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HEMEROCALLIS GALL MIDGE : . . . . . Return to the PESTS page.

HEMEROCALLIS GALL MIDGE - Contarinia quinquenotata is a small fly which has been a pest of daylilies in Europe for some time and has recently been identified in British Columbia, Canada (Summer 2001). Damage in BC is evident between April and July depending on location. Maggots develop inside daylily flower buds causing them to become inflated, distorted and unable to open properly. There is just one generation per year and the pest favors yellow-flowered early blooming daylilies. Infested buds may contain a hundred or more small white legless larvae up to around 0.12" in length which, when sufficiently mature, fall to the ground where they overwinter. In spring they emerge as adults and fly to daylily buds to lay their eggs. Treatment involves removing affected buds as soon as it is obvious that they have been attacked. These buds must then be destroyed so that the maggots cannot continue their life cycle.Because the daylily gall midge infests flower buds and spends part of its life cycle in the soil, daylilies without buds and free of soil or growing medium present less risk of introducing this pest to one's garden and neighborhood than daylilies purchased in containers or with scapes still intact.

Additional information from the Royal Horticultural Society available here.

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Normal Bud above, two affected buds below.
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Affected bud beside two normal buds.
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Affected bud, maggot indicated by arrow.
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Close-up of affected bud with maggot indicated by arrow.
Photos by Jay Rowland, submitted by Pam Erickson, used with permission.

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