Hypoaspis miles, soil predatory mite for fungus gnat
It lives in the top centimetre or two of compost and prefers the youngest larvae, so it holds a small population down rather than clearing a large one. That makes it the preventive half of the pair: put it in at potting, and if larvae are already plentiful use it alongside a nematode drench or Bti, as UConn advises. Keep the surface moist, not wet, and treat under benches where gnats breed.
Before you order
Sprinkled on the compost surface, where it hunts small larvae and pupae in the top centimetre or so and lives on debris and algae when prey is scarce. How it works, how to tell it has established and the supplier list are on the full Stratiolaelaps scimitus profile.
How many do I need?
Area and infestation level in; quantity, cost and a weekly schedule out. Open the calculator →
Other controls for fungus gnat
- Steinernema feltiaeNematode · 250k–500k /m² of compost surface; about 5 million per 25 houseplants
- Bacillus thuringiensis israelensisMicrobial insecticide · Label rate — Gnatrol home label 1–1.5 tsp per gallon of water as a soil drench, wetting the compost surface; Mosquito Bits sprinkled over the compost and watered in
- Rove beetlesWild predator · Nothing to release — the greenhouse species Dalotia coriaria is the one sold
- Dalotia coriariaPredatory rove beetle · 0.1–2 /sq ft (about 1–22 /m²); suppliers differ
- Macrocheles robustulusPredatory mite · 100–500 /m² per release, repeated once or twice