Gnats pop up again

| Saturday, July 05, 2008

QUAD-CITY TIMES

Small black flies called “eye gnats” have plagued the Quad-City region for about a month, and just about the time they were dying down, moist conditions spawned a whole new generation because they feed on decaying organic matter.

Although eye gnats don’t bite, they are extremely annoying because they swarm around moist areas, such as the eyes, mouths and noses of people and dogs. They are also very persistent.

There’s little to be done about them except wait them out, said Donald Lewis, an entomologist at Iowa State University in Ames.

“Fogging is an impractical control alternative,” he said. “It is unlikely enough insecticide can be fogged in enough places to make a substantial dent in the population.

“The practical control is to wait for the ground to dry out. Then the gnats will disappear.”

And entomologist Ken Holscher says that, as far as he knows, there are no commercially available repellents specifically formulated and sold for gnats.

Meanwhile, some people say they have had good luck by dabbing on Avon Skin So Soft, vanilla extract and Absorbine Jr.