Q.What Else Could I Use To Stop No See Ums From Biting Me And To Get Rid Of Them?
I have tried everything that was online to get rid of no see ums to no avail. List: Swayer Insect Repellent (for skin and clothes), pine oil, Dyna Trap (indoor), MSM cream (which is said to be poisonous to them), Avon’s skin-so-soft, Coleman 100 Max Insect repellent, Essential Oils, Steri-Fab, Kleen Green. What else could I use? We have no standing water issues. They just consistent wanting me (my blood and no other family member). My problem is not with them outside but indoors, and we don’t have a garden. We just had a lot of rain last summer. I stayed up late that summer with light on and fan in window blowing comfortable air in instead of blowing heat out, and they came in and it’s been a problem with them since. Now that it is Winter, I won’t have a problem with them outdoors. I haven’t got rid of them from indoors. What else could I do? If you cannot see them for the on contact kill pesticides, how can the on contact pesticide be effective without it having a residual effect?
Certified GKH Gardening Expert
The insecticides are not efficient because you would have to spray every day. Do you have any indoor plants with moist soil that they incubate in? It seems like they would eventually die out without a proper, moist environment for larvae and adults. They feed on nectar and the females need a blood meal for eggs to develop. Indoors they shouldn't last more than 7 weeks.
Repellents containing DEET are recommended to keep them off your person. Traps that lure them inside and then kill them can be effective, such as CO2 traps. They are attracted to carbon dioxide. Also, try putting out a bowl with apple cider vinegar in it, plus a few drops of dishwashing liquid. That should attract them and they won't be able to get out.
Here is some information that should help. One of the articles gives some ideas how to keep them out of the house in the future, such as screens with smaller holes.
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/plant-problems/pests/insects/how-to-stop-no-see-um-insects.htm
http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/aquatic/biting_midges.htm
