How to get rid of mushroom mosquitoes (sciarid)

Mushroom mosquito

Mushroom mosquito larvae

Mushroom mosquito in the house

Folk remedies for mushroom mosquito

Remedies for mushroom mosquito

The fungus mosquito of the Sciaridae family belongs to the soil insects distributed throughout. Despite this, they belong to the least studied group of dipterans. The family has almost thirty genera, including more than 1700 species studied and described by scientists. Sciarides living in tropical regions of the Earth, and there are approximately twenty thousand of them, will be described in the near future. The fauna of Europe is not so rich in representatives of this family. Here they live about 600 species.

All mushroom mosquitoes have their own distinctive features, but they are almost invisible to an uninitiated person. Most often within Russia there are representatives of the genera Sciara (Sciara), Licoriella (Lycoriella) and Bradysia (Bradysia). It is impossible to get rid of flower pests once and for all. They will appear again if conditions favorable for their existence are created. Scyarides in the photos presented on the site confirm that they are very similar to each other. Differences of each kind can only be seen at high magnification.

Biological characteristics of the mushroom mosquito

The sciaridae fly is a small mosquito, whose body length is in the range from 1.5 to 4 mm. In young individuals, it reaches two millimeters. The color of the outer cover is black for adult insects, and light gray for young ones. The mushroom mosquito has a well-developed anterior translucent pair of wings, thanks to which they can fly well. The hind wings lost their original purpose. They transformed into club-shaped buzzers, so during the flight the insect makes a characteristic squealing sound. The oral apparatus of the scyarid performs a sucking function.

Adult individuals of sciarides do not harm plants, since they do not feed. Under favorable conditions, insects breed very quickly. A female mushroom mosquito lays eggs on the surface of a well-moistened soil or in a clod of earth between the roots of indoor plants. In one clutch there can be up to three hundred eggs. After a few days, wormlike legless larvae of the mushroom mosquito appear from them. The length of their body can range from two to ten millimeters. It is translucent, with a clearly visible intestine and a characteristic black head. According to it, it is possible to distinguish representatives of the flower pest from annelids. Scyarid larvae have a gnawing oral apparatus. They usually develop on rotting plant debris found in the soil. However, being in flower pots of indoor plants, they may lack feed substrates. Midge larvae feed gentle fodder system and underground shoots of flowers, which cause irreparable damage to the plantations. After a while, pupation and emergence of a young fly occurs. Left shells decompose in the ground. It should be noted that they do not tolerate dry soil.The larvae of scyarides extracted from the wet substrate die for a short period of time.

The danger of mushroom mosquitoes for humans and indoor plants

It should be noted immediately that midges of sciarida do not bite a person and do not drink his blood. This is confirmed by research by American scientists. They, unlike the midges, do not swarm near the face and do not climb into the eyes. However, sciarides are carriers of dangerous fungal diseases that are harmful not only to plants, but also to people. Severe respiratory diseases can develop in a person after contact with infected plants and inhalation of mold spores that carry sciarida flies.

As for plants, the favorite food in the earth house plant pests are the roots of poinsettia, senpolia, anthurium, hibiscus, orchids and other domestic plants. In pots, where scyarid larvae appeared in large quantities, the flowers cease to develop normally, they lose their attractive appearance, become lethargic and lose their ability to bloom. All this indicates that care must be taken to eliminate dangerous pests in indoor flowers as quickly as possible.

The reasons for the appearance of a mushroom mosquito in the apartment

To to get rid of midges in indoor plants, it is necessary to establish the reason for their appearance in the room. The most common factors for the existence of a mushroom mosquito in an apartment are:

• increased humidity in the apartment and improper care of house plants;
• purchase of a flower scyaride infected with larvae or adults in a specialized store;
• sciarida can enter the apartment through ventilation ducts, an open window or door;
• a warm and humid environment is an ideal condition for the life of an insect. Having settled in such a room, they lay their eggs in a floral substrate and continue their existence.

Having established in what way the flower flies of the sciaridae were in the apartment, it is necessary to begin comprehensive measures to destroy pests.

Preparatory Activities

Before proceeding with effective actions to control the pest of indoor plants, it is necessary to establish their number, place of mass habitat and only then decide how to get rid of scyarids and which method to choose. Initially, you must complete the following steps:

• inspect the premises for food waste and establish ways of penetration of sciarides into the apartment;
• install protective nets on hoods and ventilation ducts;
• check the soil in flower pots for larvae and, if necessary, replace it with a fresh substrate;
• to audit the root system of plants, in order to detect rotten areas;
• reduce indoor air humidity due to additional air ventilation.

After this set of measures, you can choose effective methods to combat the mushroom mosquito.

Ways to kill mushroom mosquitoes

Mushroom mosquitoes and their larvae can be removed using insecticidal drugs or using time-tested folk remedies.

People's recommendations

Having discovered that mushroom mosquitoes are wound up in a flower pot with your favorite violets, you need to reduce watering. If the degree of infection of the plant with sciarides is high, then fight flies in flower pots will have to by more radical means. It is necessary to transplant the flower into a new earth and remove part of the rotten root system.

Important!

If the roots of the plant are not damaged, then just change the top layer of flower soil.
It is advisable to remove sciarid using accessible and safe funds from midges:

• Infusion made from dried tobacco to spray the infected soil and the ground part of the plant.It should be processed five times at weekly intervals.
• A soapy solution prepared from thirty grams of shavings dissolved in a liter of water. Spraying is carried out by analogy with the previous method.
• Organization of upper drainage. Pour a layer of fine gravel, coarse sand or expanded clay onto the soil surface. After irrigation, the drainage will always be dry and will not allow sciarids to multiply.
• A light pink solution of potassium permanganate will disinfect the soil in the pot.
• As natural repellents, you can use citrus peels, cloves of garlic, anise oil, which grease flower pots or chopped dill sprinkled on top of the ground.
• Sticky midge trapslocated near flower pots.

All these tools will help get rid of mushroom mosquitoes. You can use the original unconventional method. For this, flower growers recommend planting a Nepentes in the house - an insectivorous plant that will reduce the number of harmful insects.

Chemical insecticides

Scyarida can be destroyed with the help of effective chemicals. Before proceeding with the processing of infected plants, it is necessary to collect flying midges with a vacuum cleaner. The use of chemicals implies strict adherence to the recommendations set out in the instructions.

Important!

After the use of insecticides, it is not recommended to water the treated plants for five days.

Getting rid of mosquito will provide such effective substances:

• "Raid", "Neo-dichlorvos" and other means of flying insects, which should be treated in the room where the house flowers are;
• “Karbofos”, “Agravertin”, “Aktara”, “Kinminks”, “Aktellik”, “Inta-vir” and other means that must be diluted in the appropriate proportion and water the contaminated soil;
• crayon "Mashenka";
• Soil, Bazudin, and Soil Insecticides Thunder 2.

These and other means of sciarides, subject to the irrigation regime and proper care of the flowers, will help get rid of pests.