Usually yes, because “biting gnat” is a folk term and not a true name for the insect. In West Michigan, it almost always means black flies, though some people also use it to refer to no-see-ums.
When you’re being bitten or swarmed by insects, precise naming isn’t necessarily the thing you are most concerned about. So a lot of people use “gnat” to refer to all manner of small annoying insects, especially ones that bite.
In West Michigan, black flies are often the ones being referred to when the term “biting gnat” is used. They are small, humpbacked and stout-bodied, dark, and only a few millimeters long. You might also hear them called buffalo gnats.
No matter what you call them, they breed exclusively in clean, flowing water like that found in streams, creeks, and rivers. They don’t breed in stagnant puddles the same way mosquitoes do. Adults tend to emerge in late spring and peak around May or June. And in those boom times, they hunt by day, which means swarming faces, ears, and hairlines. Their bites are cuts and not punctures, which is part of why they swell more than mosquito bites.
No-see-ums also get called gnats from time to time. They’re biting midges in a different family than black flies altogether. They’re roughly one to three millimeters which is barely big enough to see even if you know where to look. They’re small enough to pass through standard window screens. Their bites feel sharp and disproportionately painful for something you can’t see. They breed in wet, marshy soil like that you would find along the shoreline.
For both, yard maintenance helps keep them in check. Mow grass regularly, keep vegetation trimmed, and use fans on porches since neither flies well in moving air. If you have lots of trouble with them, have a professional treat the shaded foliage where they tend to rest.
If flies or no-see-ums are running your evenings, Mosquito Squad of West Michigan Lakeshore can help. Mosquito Squad treats the shaded zones where biting insects rest. This is enough to help you protect your outdoor time throughout the season.
