No See-Ums? (Miami, Miami Beach, Kendall: 2015, house, neighborhoods)

[nature1]

We visited Sarasota a couple years ago in Sept. and were eaten alive. Was wondering if the Miami area has no-seeums? Those little buggers really put a damper on our vacation! Thanks in advance (:

[Cubanchic]

Miami doesn't really have no seeums but we do have skeeters. If you are coming in our winter time you should be fine.

[doggiebus]

Miami does have no seums. The closer you are to the ocean, the swamps, mangroves, anything with standing water the more you can experience them. I've experienced them in december. I've heard it all depends on the rain and humidity.

[Reptoid Humidian]

Over on Virginia Key where Jimbo's was, they're terrible.

[valicky]

We still have mosquitoes now. Was just in Palmetto Bay this weekend and was outside from 2 to 6 and was bitten. This person has that mosquito system that mists some natural stuff. I don't know if she had it turned off or it was out of whatever it sprays, but was surprised I got mosquito bites. I was wearing long sleeves and pants too.

[Boer]

"no see ums" are a species of fly, its a biting midge. They are 3mm big but are terribly aggressive and look like dust floating in the air. If you are near an area with damp sand they should be present during warm daytime conditions. They like fresh stagnant water but only breed in damp sand. Miami is mostly rock so they want be as bad there as some places in florida however I dont really know the area as well as the locals. I use any menthol based muscle rub around my ears and face and wear light colored loose clothes and they are no problem, same with mosquitoes.

[xS☺B☺s]

I was never bothered by em on Miami Beach except if i tried to sleep on the beach at night. Never walking around the city - never during the day. Not once in three years. But on the beach at night, oh yeah. I always had this idea spending the night on the beach with my favorite babe would be so romantic - but that of course is how I discovered no-see-ums. Tried it several times.

No skeeters on MB though. Mainland, yeah, Beach no. They cant breed in salt water. Lotsa roaches though. And alley cats. And wild parrokeets. And pelicans. I like pelicans. They're just like me - real ugly - but still very cool.

[advsign22]

I have been around a lot of areas and I am pretty old too (haha) but I have recently discovered these small insects and just found out they are called no seeums from this site as well as Noseeums Biting midges

Pesky pest they are and hard to get rid of. I will try the soap and water in the bowl mixture that I saw before to trap and kill these noseeums insects

[popcorn247]

Miami-Dade does have no-seeums. I've noticed them especially early morning on calm days and in the evenings....especially Sep, Oct., Nov., December......in Coral Gables, near the coast. As soon as the breeze picks up, they seem to disappear during the day.

[myhonestopinion]

I concur with other replies: Yes, Miami does have no-see-ums, in certain areas away from marshes or beaches - the usual culprits.
In other states, during "real" winter months, these insects from hell disappear. Good riddance! However, in Miami, given its warmer climate and other facts that allow breeding at any time of the year, they multiply by the hundreds (or thousands) in certain situations or locations.
It is apparent that the privacy wall construction by the N/S Turnpike around the Kendall neighborhoods has affected the no-see-um breeding habitats, causing them to move to nearby areas. Also, the prevailing Westerly Winds in year 2015 had them flying East, helped by the strong winds.
No-see-ums love entering screened porches through holes in the screens or separation between door and frame, or when someone enters the porch from outside. Once inside a front porch, they just hide and wait for the home front door to open and they are in! Granted that some people get bitten and they can forget about it in thirty minutes; however, people sensitive to their bites can see their lower legs bitten all over, or the neck area, front and back, or in other body parts. Such sensitivity causes extreme redness.
Now about the itch. I do not wish it on anybody. No remedy seems to help in relieving the hellish itch, or eliminating the insects from inside the house, despite spending hundreds of dollars in glue lamps that attract hundreds in the porch in just two days, or inside, where it can attract 30 per day. With proper care about quick entrance and exit, the lamp will attract about two per day inside the house - all that is necessary for a person to itch for hours - no scratching allowed or there will be welts or infection.
About the Turnpike, between SW 104th and 120th Streets, there is a big holding pond and a smaller one. Also, puddles form with the rains. Pilings are in now, meaning that the holes have been filled, but dirt is still being removed here and there, causing more disturbance for the critters who then pack up and fly to their closest destination: the neighborhoods abutting the turnpike and ponds. Mosquito Control does not respond in writing, but responding personnel claim that no-see-ums are not mosquitos so they can do nothing about it. It's been about a year since we have been invaded by these monsters and life has been hell for many.
Given the prevailing conditions: turnpike lengthy construction still going strong; the ponds and puddles of water; abnormal prevailing winds that - coupled with machinery noise, pounding, digging, etc. - at the construction site - all combined, keep sending these insects from hell our way. A lady I met a few months ago at Home Depot buying insecticides like me, told me she had been battling them - without success - to the tune of way over $2,000 for over two years. I am at over $1,000 and still buying "new stuff" to see if it will work where nothing else has. I have pinpointed the source and the extent of the personal damage caused, providing pictures of the severe amount of red bite marks, and welt marks, plus hundreds of the insects collected on the glue cards - to no avail. This plague appears to be nobody's business - until it gets out of proportion. Apparently, there is no budget for no-see-um control, only mosquitoes.