3 ms·

In my experience Black flies[1] and no-see-ums[2] are far worse (not counting mosquitoes born disease). It's like a massive angry cloud of micro horseflies that

In my experience Black flies[1] and no-see-ums[2] are far worse (not counting mosquitoes born disease). It's like a massive angry cloud of micro horseflies that intend to dismember you bite by bite. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_fly https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_fly [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceratopogonidae https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceratopogonidae

capitainenemo 1y ago
FWIW black flies are also disease carriers.
- mike978 1y ago
  Yeah, they can, I was just commenting on the physical experience as to which insects would keep me away from the northern latitudes.
- nkurz 11mo ago
  While technically true, I think that's in tropical Africa. Are there also diseases that they carry in North America? Even without disease, I tend to agree with the OP that black flies are worse than mosquitoes, and don't think I've ever heard of anyone getting a disease from a black fly bite in the US or Canada.
  - capitainenemo 11mo ago
    You're mostly correct, but apparently not totally :) - I did think that it was further north, but the human cases are usually only in south and central america and africa. Nonetheless, there are some. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4809994/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4809994/ (human cases in the US - but is primarily in animals) https://www.merckvetmanual.com/poultry/bloodborne-organisms-in-poultry/leucocytozoonosis-in-poultry https://www.merckvetmanual.com/poultry/bloodborne-organisms-... (birds only, but still north american disease) There's also an allergic reaction apparently due to large numbers of bites called simuliotoxicosis / black fly fever. There's also this mysterious one in europe. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7920075/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7920075/ Aaaand there's this site claiming possible encephalitis transmission, although I kinda feel I'd prefer a better cite than that. https://www.mosquitomagnet.com/resources/faq-black-fly-other-insect-diseases https://www.mosquitomagnet.com/resources/faq-black-fly-other...
nealabq 11mo ago
The Blackfly song has it right then? Thank you National Film Board of Canada: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f389hIxZAOc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f389hIxZAOc
- mike978 11mo ago
  Pretty much - although after living with it for 4 year I can report it's often worse. =) The local bookstore gave a discount for the first bite of the season if you lived long enough to collect.

capitainenemo 1y ago

FWIW black flies are also disease carriers.

mike978 1y ago
Yeah, they can, I was just commenting on the physical experience as to which insects would keep me away from the northern latitudes.
nkurz 11mo ago
While technically true, I think that's in tropical Africa. Are there also diseases that they carry in North America? Even without disease, I tend to agree with the OP that black flies are worse than mosquitoes, and don't think I've ever heard of anyone getting a disease from a black fly bite in the US or Canada.
- capitainenemo 11mo ago
  You're mostly correct, but apparently not totally :) - I did think that it was further north, but the human cases are usually only in south and central america and africa. Nonetheless, there are some. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4809994/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4809994/ (human cases in the US - but is primarily in animals) https://www.merckvetmanual.com/poultry/bloodborne-organisms-in-poultry/leucocytozoonosis-in-poultry https://www.merckvetmanual.com/poultry/bloodborne-organisms-... (birds only, but still north american disease) There's also an allergic reaction apparently due to large numbers of bites called simuliotoxicosis / black fly fever. There's also this mysterious one in europe. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7920075/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7920075/ Aaaand there's this site claiming possible encephalitis transmission, although I kinda feel I'd prefer a better cite than that. https://www.mosquitomagnet.com/resources/faq-black-fly-other-insect-diseases https://www.mosquitomagnet.com/resources/faq-black-fly-other...

nealabq 11mo ago

The Blackfly song has it right then? Thank you National Film Board of Canada: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f389hIxZAOc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f389hIxZAOc

mike978 11mo ago
Pretty much - although after living with it for 4 year I can report it's often worse. =) The local bookstore gave a discount for the first bite of the season if you lived long enough to collect.