- Apr 14, 2001
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It's BAD here this year. You can't go outside without getting a HUGE cloud swarm on you.
I've lived all over and never seen anything like this. Just a few seconds out the door and you'll have thousands on you.
I blame George Bush.
Area residents driven buggy
Buffalo gnats out in force in wetter parts of central Illinois
By JOHN REYNOLDS
STAFF WRITER
Published Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Deborah Barnes thought she would spend a relaxing afternoon planting flowers Sunday ... until she was enveloped by a swarm of determined gnats.
?It was the like the beginning of madness,? said Barnes, who lives in rural Menard County between Pleasant Plains and Tallula. ?I kept batting them away, but they kept coming back. Monday morning, I woke up and my eyelids were swollen.?
Barnes is far from alone. People throughout the Springfield area have been complaining since the weekend about an unusually severe infestation of gnats - most likely buffalo gnats, members of the black fly family.
Buffalo gnats are about two to five millimeters in length, and get the ?buffalo? name from a hump on their back.
?Their bite oftentimes initially doesn?t cause pain, but the problem is, they have an allergic material in their saliva, which can produce a very strong allergic reaction in humans, other mammals and birds,? said Linn Haramis, an entomologist with the Illinois Department of Public Health. ?We?ve had individuals call and say they had to go to their physician for medication to reduce the swelling and itching associated with numerous black fly/buffalo gnat bites.?
Haramis has dealt with buffalo gnats in the past, but said they seem to be more plentiful when there is a wet spring.
?They breed in flowing water, so if we have more rainfall and flowing water, many more will survive,? Haramis said.
According to the National Weather Service, precipitation measurements at Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport were below normal for March and April. Other areas of the state, however, were above normal, and as of Tuesday, the Illinois River was above flood stage at Havana and Beardstown
Haramis said the gnats can move several miles on the prevailing winds.
Barnes grew up in Illinois, but she?s never had this problem before.
?I?ve never experienced gnats like this in my life, and I?m 51 years old,? Barnes said.
Matt Montgomery, crops systems educator for the University of Illinois? Sangamon-Menard Extension, also has heard about the gnats.
?I stepped into the office Monday morning and the gentleman who works next door to me was talking about running in Morgan County and being bit,? Montgomery said. ?I was working in the back yard this weekend, got in that night and got in with a welt or two on me. ... I think lots of people are beginning to notice these little flies.?
While they feed on blood, buffalo gnats do not spread diseases among humans in the United States. Still, because of the toxins in their saliva, the bites can have complications.
Haramis said the best defense is long clothes and insect repellant. He warned, however, that buffalo gnats are experts at finding the one area of skin that people miss when they use repellant.
?If you are wearing long sleeves and put insect repellant on the back of your hands, but forget to put it on your wrists, they will crawl up your arm and start biting,? Haramis said.
Luckily, the lifespan of the adult buffalo gnat is only one to three weeks.
?They disappear as the summer season progresses. So, hopefully, they aren?t something that is going to present for the entire summer.?
That?s good news to Barnes. She tried to go outside again on Monday, but once again, the gnats forced her indoors.
?We look forward to warm weather. We are avid patio-sitters. We even have a television outside on the patio,? Barnes said. ?My husband commented that it might as well be winter since we can?t go outside.?
I've lived all over and never seen anything like this. Just a few seconds out the door and you'll have thousands on you.
I blame George Bush.
Area residents driven buggy
Buffalo gnats out in force in wetter parts of central Illinois
By JOHN REYNOLDS
STAFF WRITER
Published Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Deborah Barnes thought she would spend a relaxing afternoon planting flowers Sunday ... until she was enveloped by a swarm of determined gnats.
?It was the like the beginning of madness,? said Barnes, who lives in rural Menard County between Pleasant Plains and Tallula. ?I kept batting them away, but they kept coming back. Monday morning, I woke up and my eyelids were swollen.?
Barnes is far from alone. People throughout the Springfield area have been complaining since the weekend about an unusually severe infestation of gnats - most likely buffalo gnats, members of the black fly family.
Buffalo gnats are about two to five millimeters in length, and get the ?buffalo? name from a hump on their back.
?Their bite oftentimes initially doesn?t cause pain, but the problem is, they have an allergic material in their saliva, which can produce a very strong allergic reaction in humans, other mammals and birds,? said Linn Haramis, an entomologist with the Illinois Department of Public Health. ?We?ve had individuals call and say they had to go to their physician for medication to reduce the swelling and itching associated with numerous black fly/buffalo gnat bites.?
Haramis has dealt with buffalo gnats in the past, but said they seem to be more plentiful when there is a wet spring.
?They breed in flowing water, so if we have more rainfall and flowing water, many more will survive,? Haramis said.
According to the National Weather Service, precipitation measurements at Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport were below normal for March and April. Other areas of the state, however, were above normal, and as of Tuesday, the Illinois River was above flood stage at Havana and Beardstown
Haramis said the gnats can move several miles on the prevailing winds.
Barnes grew up in Illinois, but she?s never had this problem before.
?I?ve never experienced gnats like this in my life, and I?m 51 years old,? Barnes said.
Matt Montgomery, crops systems educator for the University of Illinois? Sangamon-Menard Extension, also has heard about the gnats.
?I stepped into the office Monday morning and the gentleman who works next door to me was talking about running in Morgan County and being bit,? Montgomery said. ?I was working in the back yard this weekend, got in that night and got in with a welt or two on me. ... I think lots of people are beginning to notice these little flies.?
While they feed on blood, buffalo gnats do not spread diseases among humans in the United States. Still, because of the toxins in their saliva, the bites can have complications.
Haramis said the best defense is long clothes and insect repellant. He warned, however, that buffalo gnats are experts at finding the one area of skin that people miss when they use repellant.
?If you are wearing long sleeves and put insect repellant on the back of your hands, but forget to put it on your wrists, they will crawl up your arm and start biting,? Haramis said.
Luckily, the lifespan of the adult buffalo gnat is only one to three weeks.
?They disappear as the summer season progresses. So, hopefully, they aren?t something that is going to present for the entire summer.?
That?s good news to Barnes. She tried to go outside again on Monday, but once again, the gnats forced her indoors.
?We look forward to warm weather. We are avid patio-sitters. We even have a television outside on the patio,? Barnes said. ?My husband commented that it might as well be winter since we can?t go outside.?
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