Re: "little black flies"
Loren Russell (loren@PEAK.ORG)
Wed, 14 Feb 1996 12:14:36 -0800 (PST)
The bugs described in recent postings are undoubtedly "fungus
gnats" [sciarids]. They're almost inescapable under greenhouse
conditions using moist peat-based media. The adults do no harm [and are
very well-adapted as Drosera/Pinguicula food. The larvae are tiny white
maggots with black heads, and THEY can damage seedlings, at least, but by
nibbling roots/stems, and by "sliming" the peat surface.
For the few plants, including CPs, that I start indoors under
lights, I have to "pasteurize" [boiling water] the seed-mix, and spray
the area [not soil surface] with pyrethrums to keep damage down.
The "zebras" [springtail insects = Collembola] that I encounter
in plant pots seem completely harmless fungal and humus consumers, though
a few species are considered minor agricultural pests.
Loren Russell, Corvallis, OR