Black Flies
Buffalo Gnats
These painful biting and annoying flies appear in enourmous numbers during the late spring and early summer. They are capable of transmitting disease and have killed thousands of domestic and wild animals.
- Fly Species
- buffalo gnats, black flies, turkey gnats, or white socks
- Family: Simuliidae
- Genus: Simulium
- Locations
- Many parts of the US and Canada.
- Europe, Central America, and Africa
- Size
- 1/25 - 1/5 inch (1 - 5mm)
- Identify
- Very small with tiny legs and antennae.
- Black, but can also be gray and a few are red.
- Thorax appears humpbacked
- Life Cycle
- The entire life cycle is approximately 6 weeks with about 4 generations a year
- Breeding
- Shallow running water such as rivers and streams, but also irrigation canals and ditches.
- Eggs are laid in the water and the larvae attach themselves to rock and plants where they feed on small organic particles and algae.
- They have been known to lay eggs a foot below the surface of the water.
- Feeding
- Adult females feed on humans and animals.
- Mostly in the daytime and out of the wind.
- More so in shaded areas.
- Congregation
- They tend to fly around people's heads, occasionally getting into eyes, ears, and hair as well as crawling up sleeves, in boots and other vulnerable places.
- Travel
- May travel up to 15 miles to feed
- Health Importance
- The black fly is known to transmit the parasitic nematode, which causes onchocerciasis, or blindness in humans in Central America, Africa and Mexico.
- How to Kill / Control
- To get rid of black flies:
- Exclusion
- Use Fly Traps, Fly Zappers, and Fly Sprays to kill adult flies
- View our Fly Control page for extended information on these methods.
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