Midges in house: remedies to eliminate them and causes

They represent one of the most annoying guests inside the houses, especially during the summer season: the midges, with their insistent flight and the uncontrollable attraction towards food, are often a presence difficult to eradicate. Considering how they can affect some tasty foods, including seasonal fruit, providing for their containment is essential. But how to provide with completely natural remedies that allow you to remove them while respecting the environment?

Before starting, it is good to underline how with the term “midge” we tend to identify even very different species of small insects. It is not rare, in fact, to exchange small flies or sandflies for these small flying animals. As a result, the following advice may have no effect on incorrectly identified species.

Midges: what causes them to proliferate?

The most common species of midges we find in our houses is that of Drosophila melanogaster, also known as fruit or vinegar fly or vinegar. Very small in size, below 2.5 mm in length, they live a very short but intensely prolific life: each couple, in fact, can give birth to a progeny of dozens of other specimens.

Almost omnipresent in homes, these insects appear for some very specific causes. They are attracted to moisture, to mature and near-decomposition vegetable foods, to liquids and other fermented waste products. The choice of these foods, however, is not accidental for these midges: in fact they prefer similar surfaces to lay their tiny and invisible eggs, so that the larvae can access large quantities of nourishment in all their evolutionary stage.

With an average life of about 15 days and the ability to reproduce very quickly, fruit flies are often able to evade the most classic protections, such as traditional mosquito nets. The small size can in fact allow them to pass through the meshes of these accessories, so you will always need to choose products with very narrow networks or, again, fabric veilings.

Natural remedies to eliminate them

There are many effective natural remedies to contain the population of midges, whether it is Drosophila melanogaster or other similar species.

1. The first advice is the attention in the preservation of food: in the hot season they should never be left on the tables or in exposed baskets, because the scent and the ripening process will attract a large amount of insects. Better to store each dish in the refrigerator, if allowed by the food in question, also because the midges tend to need an environmental temperature of 20-25 degrees centigrade.

2. Attention also to condiments, drinks and other similar ingredients: these insects love sugar, sweets in general, vinegar and wine.

3. It is therefore necessary to eliminate all the stagnant water present in the house, as these animals are attracted to moisture, for example by checking flower saucers, jars, containers, gutters, sink traps and much more.

4. Considering how midges also love fermented or decomposing organic compounds, it is essential to empty the food waste bin frequently, cleaning it thoroughly with Marseille soap melted in lukewarm water. Alternatively, it is possible to use sodium bicarbonate.

5. Equally essential is a thorough cleaning of all surfaces, adding to the warm water a few drops of Tea Tree Oil given its deterrent effect, as well as resorting to some natural remedies to be placed at strategic points of the house: among the many the already mentioned Tea Tree Oil, lemongrass and mint.