Fungus gnats or Scailia flies (?)
MPM7347@ACS.TAMU.EDU
Mon, 6 May 1996 9:02:20 -0500 (CDT)
Well.. that problem with my Dioneae and the pests.. I studied a few books on
pests and the closest match I have is these fungus gnats... The larvae are in
the peat, white with black heads from 1mm to 1cm in length.. I saw some pupae
which resembled miniscule white termite larvae. The adults fly carelessly everywhere... I found a few of the larvae worms in the root system... presumably
enjoying them (argh!)... anyway.. I discovered that these gnats were centralized in my wife's plant.. there were tens and tens of these worms in the pot (which was quite large).... so ya know.. Her plant had to go on the porch until I
erradicated all of the pests... on my vft's I flushed a dilluted mixture of
water and Ortho Malathion 50 liquid through the pot and then used water to flush the majority of the contaminants out.. all seems well now.. anybody else ever
encounter such beasts??? BTW>. my suspicion was raised when I learned that whitefly larvae live on the undersides of leaves.. whereas those in my plants were inthe actual peat moss soil.
Thanks...
L8r all.....
Mike