Mainers know them well.
They crawl behind glasses, they snuggle inside ears, they tiptoe under shirts. They bite. Actually, it feels more like they gnaw, tearing flesh rather than sticking you like a mosquito.
Their attack is more like a Viking hacking a monk’s neck with an axe, than Zorro sticking an arm with his rapier.
Welcome to black fly season on the beautiful Midcoast of Maine.
In the garden, in the woods and on the shore, people don’t have to look for them. They will find the people.
They are celebrated in song and joke.
Chances are the local tourist store sells an official “Black Fly, The Maine State Bird” Tee shirt.
The kids at the University of Maine at Machias, under the banner of the Maine Black Fly Breeder’s Association, boast of a Black Fly Convention with prizes and contests.
OK, enough for the goofy stuff.
What does science say about the buzzing pests?
Charlene Donahue, a forest entomologist with the Maine Department of Conservation, knows a lot about black flies. She is one of the few folks in the state that knows there are actually some 40 species of black flies.
It is not the same family of black flies that keep biting you when you are mowing the lawn, she explains. After a short time, they breed and die, and then another species takes over the chore.
That is everywhere except in the Penobscot River valley where there is a species that lives until the first hard frost. “Ironically, we didn’t discover this species until we started to clean up the river in the 70s. They breed in clean water,” she said.
“Black flies don’t sting. They chew a hole in your skin then feed on your blood. Their bites itch because they contain an enzyme that acts as an anti-coagulant that keeps your blood from forming a scab,” she said.
What good are they? Well, they are a major food source for fish, tadpoles and turtles when they are in the larval stage. After they hatch, the birds and bats in the evening eat them.”
Some states spend a lot of money to get rid of them. Not Maine.
“We do not spray for any insect. If you want to put something in your pond or stream to kill them, you must obtain a permit from the Department of Environmental Protection, and they don’t give out permits for that stuff,” she said.
If the official forest entomologist goes in the woods, what does she do to avoid black flies?
“I spray repellent on a baseball cap and it seems to keep them away from my face” she said. Head and body netting works too.
Do folk remedies, like Avon Skin-So-Soft, work? “I guess it works for some. Maybe it is so sticky they get stuck to your arm and can’t fly around. I don’t know if it works, but it is really good for your skin,” she said.
Years ago, she said, some Indians used to smear bear grease on their skin to prevent insects, but mostly they migrated to the coast where the breezes kept the bugs away.
Registered Maine Guides, who make a living in the woods and in the streams, ought to know about black flies.
Dan Hatch, a hunting guide from Damariscotta, says there are more of them around the low country than there are in the hills around Jackman where he takes clients. He says smoke from a campfire seems to keep them away.
Bill Stevens, another guide, and part time fly fishing instructor for L.L. Bean, recommends the “Buzz Off” brand of clothing that has some repellant attached to the fibers. “That stuff really works,” he said.
For those who like to try folk remedies, Stevens who takes clients to his camp on Kennebago Lake, suggests bringing two special ingredients when going into the woods.
He says he likes to put a few teaspoons of the finest sand he can find in a plastic bag. Then he puts some Jack Daniels whiskey in an eyedropper.
When the black flies start to bite, he suggests dusting the arms with the sand. Then put a few drops of the Jack Daniels, not too much, on the sand.
“The black flies will get drunk on the Jack and stone each other to death,” said Stevens with a straight face.
Donahue says most folks who spend a lot of time outside just learn to ignore the black flies.
“Just brush them away from your face,” she said.
Those who still have to mow the lawn or tend the garden or work in the woods in the weekends, shouldn’t worry too much about black flies, says Hatch.
“They will be gone in a few weeks, and about the time the black flies disappear, it is time for the mosquitoes to come out,” he said.
