Gnat Bites

Got a gnat bite? No worries. Gnat bites are fairly harmless, unless you count the itching and scratching until you don't have any skin left on your arm. Ease the itch of a gnat bite with calamine lotion, and don't scratch at it unless you really want an infection.

A bowl full of vinegar and a little dishsoap is a popular way to reduce gnat populations by trapping them. Gnats go for the vinegar in the hopes of a good meal, and find that the lack of water tension caused by the dishsoap won't let them out of the bowl. There's nothing like cheap and natural gnat control for a slim budget.

The reason I’m calling these creatures biting gnats is because a lot of people use the terms “no see ums” and “gnats” as synonyms, which is a problem when you’re trying to discuss how to get rid of gnats, midges, punkies, or no see ums. Gnats, non-biting gnats, are a very small insect that look very much like a mosquito. These are not your problem insect. Your problem insects are biting midges, punkies, no see ums, and black flies. The word gnat is a colloquial term for small biting insects, and encompasses a very large family of insects. It is hard to distinguish between the various types of biting “gnats” as we might call them, but thankfully controlling gnats is easier than identifying them. Besides, you just want the gnat bites to stop, don’t you? Well, here's how to get rid of gnats.

Gnat Control

Finer window screen material may be necessary to get rid of no see um gnats. Because no see ums (mistakenly called just gnats, but are still part of the same family as gnats) are so small, there are times when regular window screening, made to stop larger insects, just isn’t small enough to stop no see um gnats. The screening material you’re looking for would be fine weave fiberglass window screen. You may be able to find some on clearance during the winter from an online window screen vendor.

To get rid of real gnats, fungus gnats, make sure you regulate the watering of your plants. Over watered plants can invite fungus gnats to breed in what has become a good medium for the larvae. Also, try to keep as much decomposing organic material out of your potted plants, because the decomposing materials are what the fungus gnats thrive on. Making sure plant soil is dry and decomposing matter is regulated properly should get rid of those gnats.

It is not as easy to get rid of black fly gnats, also known as buffalo or turkey gnats. Local governments often take black fly gnat control into their own hands by treating water sources with Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner var. israelensis (aka BTis, a variant of those bacterium used in Mosquito Dunks). Though it might be tempting to act the professional black fly gnat control official, it’s best just to spray yourself with DEET and pray that you’ll soon be out of their feeding zone.

In order to get rid of midge gnats, biting and non-biting midge gnats, it should be prudent to enforce a change of lighting habits in your home. First thing you should do is get rid of all of the regular light bulbs you’re using for outdoor lighting. Low pressure and high pressure sodium lights are the recommended bulbs to be using if you want to attract fewer midge gnats. The orange light produced by sodium lights seems to be the key to controlling midge gnats.

To get rid of punkies gnats (yet another species of gnats) you need only move away from the lakeshore. Punkie gnats are generally found near moist, swampy areas and found near the muck that builds up on lakeshores. Punkies feeding zones are fairly small, so if you want to stop being bitten, just move a short distance away. If you absolutely must be near where punkie gnats have chosen to feed, DEET repellents will keep punkies away.