What you can do

Warm and wet: the mosquito plague is on its way

Not a popular figure

(Bild: APA/dpa-Zentralbild/Patrick Pleul)

These blood-sucking "little vampires", which disturb every summer party and even the night's rest, look very different from the sympathetic ones. The current weather conditions favor the proliferation of these annoying bloodsuckers - Styrians are likely to be in for a real plague. The same applies to snails...

There are around four dozen different species of gnats - not a single one is liked. "But of course they also have their place in nature and play a role in the ecosystem," says Johannes Gepp, President of the Styrian Nature Conservation Association, trying to take up the cudgels for the bloodsuckers.

Gnats also have predators
"As food for dragonflies and bats, for example." In doing so, he also dispels a myth that often arises in neighborhood disputes. Namely: "If someone has a biotope in their garden, the neighbors blame it for mosquito infestations. But that's not true, in a well-functioning ecosystem the larvae are eaten by dragonflies or tadpoles."

The blood composition influences the body odor and thus determines the attractiveness of the potential "victim".

(Bild: charupha/stock.adobe.com)

But it is water that each of the mosquito species needs to reproduce, including the tiger mosquitoes, which are now appearing more frequently and whose bites can lead to large swellings that can also hurt. Gepp: "The mosquitoes suck blood, then lay egg sacs with up to 200 eggs, a whole new generation grows up in a month, and it goes on and on." This year, with all the rain and the paints, the bloodsuckers are naturally celebrating a folk festival.

Cooking oil gives bloodsucker larvae no chance

Although, as Gepp emphasizes, many of the problems are home-made. "Gutters, for example, with rotting leaves in them, are home to millions of gnats. You can avoid this by cleaning the gutters regularly. Rain barrels are also covered to prevent breeding sites." Expert tip: "A drop of cooking oil in the water of the rain barrel and larvae can no longer exist in it."

They are increasingly slithering through our gardens, shredding everything tasty.

(Bild: Hronek/Schneckenprofi)

Another rather undesirable species that thrives in the warm and humid conditions: the red snail. More and more experts are advising "stay away from slug pellets"; although they do curb their population, they are a poison that also kills other animals and beneficial insects! What's more, fewer and fewer people want poison on their doorstep. .

Gardening close to nature as the most effective method
Tips: live and garden close to nature. For example, the vineyard snail preys on the slugs' eggs and the tiger snail attacks the snails when defending its territory.

The eggs and slugs themselves are also on the menu of slow worms, hedgehogs, toads and birds. In a natural garden, "the good guys" and "the bad guys" balance each other out. 

Lucky to have one in the garden: the tiger slug

(Bild: naturschutzbund/Stefan Kwitt)

Another way to keep hungry mouths away from lettuce and the like is to use so-called "sacrificial plants". For example, marigolds or marigolds can "distract" the slugs from the lettuce plants. Another strategy is used by gardeners who plant columbines or cranesbills as well as curry herb, rosemary or thyme: These plants deter slugs.

Mechanical control
The infestation can also be contained with special slug fences erected around the beds. Beer traps are only moderately successful - slugs and snails from the neighborhood like to join in.

It makes sense to go on a "snail patrol", especially at dusk, in the early morning or after rainfall, and also check under bushes. The fact that Spanish snails like to hide under wooden boards can be used to your advantage if you use them to attract - and then collect - snails. Runner ducks also help well because they clear out clutches - but when keeping animals, you must always act (responsibly) consciously!

The good news on the subject: ticks and bark beetles, also feared, do not get a boost in this weather.