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Narcissus bulb fly
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Topic: Narcissus bulb fly (Read 19370 times)
mark smyth
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Re: Narcissus bulb fly
«
Reply #30 on:
July 27, 2009, 10:27:04 AM »
I saw two Narcissus fly in the garden last week
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Antrim, Northern Ireland Z8
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Paul T
Our man in Canberra
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Paul T.
Re: Narcissus bulb fly
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Reply #31 on:
July 27, 2009, 10:37:26 AM »
Thank Mark and Gerd. Your info has been added.
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Paul T.
Canberra, Australia.
Min winter temp -8 or -9°C. Max summer temp 40°C. Thankfully, maybe once or twice a year only.
Rodger Whitlock
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Re: Narcissus bulb fly
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Reply #32 on:
July 27, 2009, 06:54:20 PM »
What surprises me (but I *am* easily surprised) is that no one has looked into developing a scent lure for the narcissus fly, either the scent of dying narcissus foliage or the scent of a female seeking a mate.
The one time I tried growing chlidanthus (in a pot), narcissus flies (both large and small) attacked and destroyed the bulb before it even had a chance to flower. One has to wonder if chlidanthus smells extra tasty to the flies and whether it could be used as a bait for them. Perhaps surround the pot with a wire screen enclosure with one-way entrances similar to those used in wasp traps.
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Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
mark smyth
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Re: Narcissus bulb fly
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Reply #33 on:
July 27, 2009, 09:34:35 PM »
Good idea but would they make enough money? Only serious bulb growers would want them. Joe Public who grows Tete-a-Tete and loses some every year wouldnt buy it - I dont think. Commercial growers rely on hot water
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Antrim, Northern Ireland Z8
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mark smyth
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Re: Narcissus bulb fly
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Reply #34 on:
July 27, 2009, 10:34:36 PM »
This is how you shouldnt leave tasty leaves in the garden to tempt the fly
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Antrim, Northern Ireland Z8
www.snowdropinfo.com
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www.marksgardenplants.com
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www.saveourswifts.co.uk
When the swifts arrive empty the green house
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Paul T
Our man in Canberra
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Paul T.
Re: Narcissus bulb fly
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Reply #35 on:
July 27, 2009, 11:25:04 PM »
Mark,
Literature seems to vary..... do the flies lay on dying foliage, or dead foliage? Or is it that the early fliers start on the dying off foliage and then there are more for the next couple of months that then hit the dead foliage? I'm assuming that as there are flies around any of the warmer months the old foliage is hit as well? How far after flowering do you find that the first flies appear?
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Paul T.
Canberra, Australia.
Min winter temp -8 or -9°C. Max summer temp 40°C. Thankfully, maybe once or twice a year only.
mark smyth
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Re: Narcissus bulb fly
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Reply #36 on:
July 27, 2009, 11:55:00 PM »
I see them in my garden on green and yellow leaves. They also sample other leaves and stems. I dont know if they taste the leaves or smell them
The dead leaves belong to a well known N Irish gardener who never clears away the leaves
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Antrim, Northern Ireland Z8
www.snowdropinfo.com
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When the swifts arrive empty the green house
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Paul T
Our man in Canberra
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Paul T.
Re: Narcissus bulb fly
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Reply #37 on:
July 28, 2009, 12:59:43 AM »
Mark,
But are your observations always after flowering, or are there flies already laying eggs while flowering is taking place?
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Cheers.
Paul T.
Canberra, Australia.
Min winter temp -8 or -9°C. Max summer temp 40°C. Thankfully, maybe once or twice a year only.
mark smyth
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Re: Narcissus bulb fly
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Reply #38 on:
July 28, 2009, 09:19:33 AM »
Never while flowering and always when leaves are past their best. May and June for us so November and December for you
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Antrim, Northern Ireland Z8
www.snowdropinfo.com
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www.marksgardenplants.com
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www.saveourswifts.co.uk
When the swifts arrive empty the green house
All photos taken with a Canon 900T and 230
Paul T
Our man in Canberra
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Paul T.
Re: Narcissus bulb fly
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Reply #39 on:
July 28, 2009, 12:30:41 PM »
Thanks Mark, that fits in with what I had worked out. So the Narcissus Fly you saw this week were probably from something other than Narcissus, looking for other Amaryllidaceae?
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Cheers.
Paul T.
Canberra, Australia.
Min winter temp -8 or -9°C. Max summer temp 40°C. Thankfully, maybe once or twice a year only.
mark smyth
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Re: Narcissus bulb fly
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Reply #40 on:
July 28, 2009, 12:46:32 PM »
No I think these would have been late to hatch. While repotting yesterday I found a Muscari that had signs that a grub had been eating it over the winter
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Antrim, Northern Ireland Z8
www.snowdropinfo.com
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www.marksgardenplants.com
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www.saveourswifts.co.uk
When the swifts arrive empty the green house
All photos taken with a Canon 900T and 230
Paul T
Our man in Canberra
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Paul T.
Re: Narcissus bulb fly
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Reply #41 on:
July 28, 2009, 01:10:16 PM »
Well according to some of the stuff I've read, Narcissus Fly have been reported to feed on Hyacinths.
I had thought they just would have been flies that had been using a host on a different seasonal schedule.... surely if Crinum are being used as a host then eggs can be laid at any time over the summer months while there is greenery? I suppose the egg laying time isn't the issue though, is it? It is the temperatures that trigger the hatching of the flies from the pupae. Given hwo strange everyone's weather seems to have been this year it isn't surprising that they're confused.
Enough people certainly are.
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Cheers.
Paul T.
Canberra, Australia.
Min winter temp -8 or -9°C. Max summer temp 40°C. Thankfully, maybe once or twice a year only.
mark smyth
Hopeless Galanthophile
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Re: Narcissus bulb fly
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Reply #42 on:
July 28, 2009, 02:26:31 PM »
Paul they only fly for a month or six weeks and any Amaryllid is a target. When active I find them in the green house most days inspecting my Nerine sarniensis
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Antrim, Northern Ireland Z8
www.snowdropinfo.com
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www.marksgardenplants.com
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www.saveourswifts.co.uk
When the swifts arrive empty the green house
All photos taken with a Canon 900T and 230
Lesley Cox
way down south !
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Gardening forever, house work.....whenever!
Re: Narcissus bulb fly
«
Reply #43 on:
July 28, 2009, 10:04:30 PM »
Unfortunately Paul and Mark, the larger narcissus fly is active in warmer gardens, at least here in NZ, for up to 4 months. I have seen them laying in October and as late as January, which is logical, considering how early Galanthus leaves are dying off, compared with later Narcissus or other amaryllids. My usual practice is to scruff up the soil where the leaves are dying away and make sure the holes left by the shrinking leaves are filled.
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Lesley Cox - near Dunedin, lower east coast, South Island of New Zealand - Zone 9
Rodger Whitlock
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Re: Narcissus bulb fly
«
Reply #44 on:
August 08, 2009, 04:15:14 AM »
Repotting Acis longifolium today, I found my biggest bulb with a *&*#*@! narcissus fly grub (the larger) protruding from the bottom. The entire basal plate may already have been destroyed by bacterial or fungal rot consequent on the grub's filthy excrement. I split the bulb in half, washed out the wound, and dusted the cut surfaces with sulfur in the hope that it's a fungus that the sulfur will bring under control. The grub I foolishly squashed before remembering that a photograph would have been of interest here.
At the current stage of its development, the grub was about the size of a grain of rice and had not yet hollowed out the bulb.
A reminder then that narcissus fly attacks all Amaryllidaceae: narcissus, acis, leucojum, hippeastrum. And it will attack bulbs of other families in a pinch: I've seen it in a hyacinth bulb.
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Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
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