Thanks all for your help! I think I will try imidacloprid to start off and switch to Spinosad or the others mentioned. I agree, it's good practice to change insecticides so pests don't build up resistance. I also plan on being careful in using these, don't want to harm anything I'm not intending to. On a positive note I still have one large bulb that was not infested and should bloom for me! Regards, Danny Jane McGary via pbs (*Tue, 31 Aug 2021 10:52:41 PDT*) I don't know how the life cycle of the bulb fly here in the Pacific Northwest compares with other regions, but here, the adults emerge simultaneously at a certain time in late spring and are immediately apparent not only visibly but also audibly. When they are flying, they produce a high-pitched whine similar to a mosquito but louder. At this time I make sure my bulb house, which has metal screen sides and a solid roof, is closed up. Bulb flies attack Galanthus (snowdrops) and Sternbergia as well as Narcissus in the open garden but I haven't lost significant numbers of those. I have read that the bulb flies are more likely to land on plants in sun than in shade, but my garden is mostly sunny. I did plant a large number of commercial daffodil hybrids at the road frontage, thinking the flies might be attracted to those cheap bulbs and leave my special ones alone. When I lived in the country, I grew Sternbergia in a raised bed and just threw a little sand over the plants when the foliage began to yellow. I have also read that the flies are attracted by the color of the withering foliage, which makes sense as their larvae have to make their way into the center of the bulb via the hollow left by a withering stem. Sternbergias go over well before most Narcissus do. When amaryllids are being grown in containers rather than in the ground, just covering the pots with a sheet of row cover (Reemay, etc.) would prevent bulb fly infestation and would not harm the plants. This product is inexpensive and available online or from shops that supply vegetable growers. Re. Arnold's mention of Spinosad (spelling?), I tried it against cutworm with no success. Jane McGary, Portland, Oregon, USA On 8/31/2021 4:52 AM, Arnold Trachtenberg via pbs wrote: *LucaI’ve been using a number of new organic insecticides which represent a new class of compounds.First group is based on bacteria that attack various parts of the pests metabolismSpinosad has been around for a long time.Grandevo and Vernerate are two others. You can search the names and find info on the web and on you tubeThe most recent one is Spear-T. It is a peptide derived from the Australian Funnel Web spider.I’ve had very bad attacks of the Narcissus bulb fly and think there are some of my images on the PBS Wiki.Arnold* *Sent from the all new AOL app for iOS* *On Tuesday, August 31, 2021, 3:10 AM, Luca Bove via pbs <pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net <pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net>> wrote:* *Thanks Lee Poulsen* *Do you have an alternative to imidacloprid?* *imidacloprid and other neonicotinoids are banned in the EU.https://ec.europa.eu/food/plants/…/ <https://ec.europa.eu/food/plants/…>* *Il giorno lun 30 ago 2021 alle ore 23:20 Lee Poulsen via pbs <pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net <pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net>> ha scritto:* *I didn’t see that anyone had responded to this. When I first startedgrowing bulbs in pots (here in inland Southern California) I had never seena narcissus bulb fly nor had any bulbs eaten by the grubs. Then one year Istarted seeing these giant bumblebee-looking insects flying around my yard.Starting the next spring, I started not seeing some of my Narcissusvarieties never leaf out. When I dumped out the pots, I found husks ofbulbs in them. Then I started finding grubs inside bulbs when leavessuddenly wilted during the growing season. I tried various non-insecticidemethods, but none of them ever worked. Finally I heard about imidaclopridand found an insecticide that contained it. My grub problem instantlyvanished and has never returned. There are issues with using imidaclopridand damaging honeybees. So I only use it on my amaryllid bulbs and a fewothers that are prone to this kind of insect damage. I sprinkle a granuleform of them on my pots, never a spray that uses it. And I wait till afterthe flowers are gone. (Because I worry that some of the insecticide mightget into the nectar or pollen of the flower. It is systemic, so it flowsthrough the plant and into the leaves and roots of the plant.) I also tryto switch to some other systemic insecticide granules from a differentclass of insecticide every other year so as to not contribute to buildingup resistance by the narcissus flies. (I do the same thing with flea dropson our cats. One month an imidacloprid-based flea drop, the next month afipronil-based flea drop.)* *--Lee PoulsenPasadena, California, USA - USDA Zone 10aLatitude 34°N, Altitude 1150 ft/350 m* *On Aug 29, 2021, at 5:42 PM, Danny Wylie via pbs <* *pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net <pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net>> wrote:* *Hey all,* *I've been in for a nasty surprise this growing season in northeastern* *Ohio* *as my bulbs have been hit hard by the fly. So far every 2 year oldHippeastrum bulb has them. After I discovered them attacking most of mylarge bulbs I wanted to try keeping the bulbs in my hot greenhouse* *thinking* *it would maybe deter them, but I was not successful. They will gladly goafter any amaryllid about the size of a quarter. I would do the hot watermethod but my bulbs get attacked so young that I fear I would never seethem flower again. I'm researching insecticides for control and the wikisuggests dylox. I've also read that a daffodil grower found Imidaclopridhighly effective. Has anyone used these for containers and found themhelpful?* *Big thanks!* *Danny W_______________________________________________pbs mailing listpbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net <pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net>http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/…/ <http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/…>Unsubscribe: <mailto:pbs-unsubscribe@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net <pbs-unsubscribe@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net>>* _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… Unsubscribe: <mailto:pbs-unsubscribe@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net>