cochineal (tiny white) flies anyone??

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cleanforum
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cochineal (tiny white) flies anyone??

Post by cleanforum »

cochineal (tiny white) flies anyone??

In 20 years I have not seen an infestion like it. I had heard of others in our area of Malaga mentioning this earlier this year. Last night I had my guests contact me to say they have the house full of them. They are small enough to pass throug the mosquito nets.
Any experience with this? What is the best plan for dealing with cleaning these out and keeping them out?
Which Sprays?
Are they attracted to lights at night?
How long do they live for?
I have to devise a plan to keep guests happy today.

Thanks in advance
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Mouse
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Post by Mouse »

Hi cleanforum....just googled and came up with this info;

Small enough to get through mosquito netting and attracted to light. Solution is an insecticide they sell in mercadona called maton or something. It has a Orange top and seems to be for beetles.
Spray that on the mosquito netting and it will kill most but advice is to close windows if you have lights on.
They onky live a short time.

Mousie
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cleanforum
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Post by cleanforum »

Thanks Mouse. I am going to try and arrange an inter week house clean and fumigation. I will go armed with some ultra violet zap lamps and plenty of sprays. I hope that will get it. Trouble is at the moment that with the extreme temperatures we are having and without aircon it is impossible for the guests to not have the windows open and these little bug **rs get through the mesh.

I think we are going to have more and more problems here in southern Spain as these prickly pear cactus(exotic as they are) and the cocheneal are extending fast and are very difficult to erradicate.

I have cleared them from my own land, it took a couple of years but they are almost everywhere here.. :(
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Post by pepsipuss »

Cleanforum, lots of sympathy.

We had our first taste last year. Pool full of them every morning even without the lights on. Guests turned on fan in sitting room and a cloud of them whooshed around the room - a fan which had been cleaned the day before!! For once I wished they had used the aircon instead!

They are indeed attracted to light and are small enough to get through the screens. Hadn't thought about spraying the screen s- might work

The best way is to tackle the problem at source - jetwash all the chumbas where you see the white stuff which is the wax they secrete to protect themselves.
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cleanforum
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Post by cleanforum »

Thanks. I can´t do anything about my neighbours cactus though.

I read today that there is a pueblo near us that acually celebrates the cultivation of this envasive species....and its insects....

http://www.diariosur.es/axarquia/201508 ... 64516.html

:roll:
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Post by charles cawley »

Horrid. It sound like our frame fly plagues that hit with varying degrees of ferocity in the colder climes of the UK.

Guests recoil without realizing that they are not flies that lay eggs in rotting flesh. They appear to be almost as hard to eradicate as these white things.
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