GNAT

Identification, Facts, & Control

Latin Name

Many Famlies & species

Appearance

Very small usually all black

Gnats are very tiny flies of which there are many different families and species. Some, like midges, have aquatic larvae that are found in the bottom of fresh water lakes and ponds. Others have larvae found in the bottom of ponds containing water heavily polluted with organic debris (sewage ponds) and others have larvae that found in leaf mulch of flower beds.

Outdoors, gnats may swarm by the thousands in the late afternoon and evening, thus creating a nuisance. They are small enough to get through most window screens and once indoors, gnats tend to swarm around lights and windows. Most gnats do not have mouthparts capable of biting. However, one group of gnats known as the "biting midges" can inflict a painful and vicious bite. These gnats are also sometimes called "punkies", "sand flies" or "no-see-ums". Like mosquitoes, biting gnats are blood-suckers. They are usually very tiny and difficult I to see even when feeding on one’s own skin.

The Coachella Valley in California has an "eye gnat’ (which is attracted to mucous secretions around one’s eyes) that is a vector of "pink eye In Clearlake, California, the "Clearlake Gnat" sometimes renders this recreational area undesirable.

Click on a species of flies below to learn further information.