Midge Infestation!!!

[emma23miller]

I hope I am posting in the right place...

I live on the 16th floor of a downtown condo in Toronto.
Over the last few days there has been an ongoing, huge infestation on the terrace. What looks like billion midge insects (small, similar to mosquitoes) have been flying around/sitting/multiplying all over the terrace and the neighbors' balconies. I keep the doors and windows closed to avoid them getting inside, but it is rather annoying - I would like to be able to go on the terrace without being swarmed. I did some googling but can't seem to find what to do about them.

Anyone else has this problem? Any ideas what to do?
There are several plants on the balcony - is that in any way encouraging them and is there some way to poison/deter/get rid of them?

They are driving me insane!!! Please help!

Thank you,

Emma

 

[gristle]

I live on a lower floor than 16 and I have them all over my windows, too. Everyone in my building has noticed them.

Maybe we'll have some frost or really cool temperatures approaching freezing in the next few days, then it's bye-bye midges.

Unlike mosquitos, midges don't bite. They do like to land on light bulbs and dry out. They are also easy to vacuum up.

 

[PukeGreen]

Same on my floor, we have no balcony but our window screen is covered in them. It happened last fall as well, so I guess it's a seasonal thing. We have a resident spider who is feasting on them so we're just letting nature take its course. They don't seem to bite or do anything other than sit there and wait to die, so I wouldn't be too concerned. As gristle says, when the temperature drops further over the next few weeks they'll be killed off. Our long mild fall might be making it seem worse this year...

 

[afransen]

There is absolutely nothing you can do, short of spraying the whole city in with highly toxic compounds.

My suggestion: wait a few weeks and they will be gone.

 

[whatever]

My parking space is close to a ventilation shaft and I've noticed my car has been covered with them the last couple days (I guess they get drawn down the air intake). I end up killing them by the thousands with that first flick of the windshield wipers, but they keep coming right back, so I'm mostly over it

 

[Prometheus The Supremo]

They do like to land on light bulbs and dry out.

i wonder why these insects that fly into bulbs only to sizzle never chase the sun?

 

[emma23miller]

Thanks everyone!

Can't wait for those suckers to die off.. (of course then I would have to clean all the dead bodies..)

 

[adma]

Well, if you're infested by her

you'll definitely have to clean all the dead bodies

 

[khris]

They should be gone within a few days anyway. The swarms don't last long.

 

[Urban Shocker]

I was swarmed by them this morning, picking raspberries in the garden.

 

[SP!RE]

It was a strange summer with lots of rain so I think these things bred like crazy.

 

[Benc7]

There were CLOUDS of them out here in the High Park area this morning. I haven't seen such masses of midges since I visited Scotland a couple of years ago.

 

[Tuscani01]

I came home from Chicago only to find hundreds, if not thousands of them dead in my window sill. Gross, but at least they are dead. Good thing the windows were shut too!

 

[Therion]

Apparently many different types of insects had big increases in their numbers this summer: wasps, flies, midges etc. I can only speculate why... A decrease in songbirds, less insecticide use, wetter, cooler summer, who knows. Probably all three.

 

[Prometheus The Supremo]

Apparently many different types of insects had big increases in their numbers this summer: wasps, flies, midges etc. I can only speculate why... A decrease in songbirds, less insecticide use, wetter, cooler summer, who knows. Probably all three.

i think a warmer that usual winter didn't kill off many bugs like usual. also, less insecticides leads to larger populations of bugs which also leads to larger populations of animals and insects that eat those bugs we hate since food is plenty.