Hi Beatrice,

Oh how I hate those little buggers!!!!!! I hope you get lucky and may that poor bulb give you lots of offsets.

Fred

Oh, Dear Béatrice, how I have dealt with these little devils many times before!!!

Scour out really well the rotted area and you will most likely be blessed with many offsets even if the mother bulbs does not survive, but sometimes it does, depending on the damage. I have a Flamenco Queen that was half devoured by these pesky NBF larvae and I ended up with a few offsets that grew to blooming size in a few years, the mother bulb in this case did die, but not always.

For years, I just threw away these damages bulbs until I realized that they most often don't die but produce offsets like crazy.

Good luck to you!!!

Donna☺☺☺

What is NBF.? Have never seen

Narcissus Bulb Fly and I hate them to death!!!!!! They always seem to attack my most prized bulbs.

Thanks Fred. Another pest to worry about, sigh

Dear Béatrice,

I am so sorry to see this terrible pest attack another of your bulbs.

Although, I am most fortunate to have never had any personal experience with NBF, I believe that after thoroughly cleaning and treating your bulb; it will reward you with offsets.

All the best to you and your family,

Blanca

Kristy , I used to dust fongicid , but with those bulbs I will try not doing anything more , they are hybrids of my crosses not very interesting , and some litterature says that NBF wounds are sterilised by the maggot , so it will be interesting to see what happens without any help.

You know Fred , I never saw the adult insect ! I only know it by the photos Donna published .

Blanca , it is a chance you don't have problem with them in California , this fly is a real pest.

Donna , did you do something special against NBF for having less problems ? For me what I remarqued is that the attacked bulbs are the ones that were outside in early springs , even in the greenhouse. The ones I kept in the house untill end of june aren't .

I live in Tampa and have never seen this type of damage. Have I been lucky or is there a southern limit on their range?

I've never had an issue with them here in long island. maybe they prefer areas with less humidity or something. never even seen them on my daffodils. I hope I never see them. I'd probably just keep all my bulbs indoors for fear if I came across any

I do not know the criteria of geographical distribution of this beast! I am in France, and have it all over the country , I have correspondents in Italy, and they have never been troubled.I find infested bulbs on daffodils too...of course , but there are so many daffodils all around , I can't do nothing.

I assume that's why they are called Narcissus Bulb Flies because their first preference is Narcissus aka daffodils.

Areas that have a moderately cold winter can grow these bulbs which need a cold period in order to sent up flowers in the spring and those in the warmer zones which have warm winters usually don't have a problem with these pests, as they can't grow daffodils!

If no daffodils are available in the areas which support daffodil growth, amaryllis bulbs will do nicely!! Especially the ones sitting outside in pots, how easy is it for them to have their next tasty meal presented to them on a silver platter and a nice warm place to lay their maggot!!☺☺

The little B@#&*%$S!!!!!

Daffodils are native to Southern Europe and North Africa. In native habbitat they have cool winters, not cold. They do not need cold. They are hardy ( they can survive in cold climate, soo people mistakenly think that they need cold climate ), but they do not need cold temperatures to flower. They just need cool temperatures ( primarily at night ) during winter.

Daffodils paperwhites are native here in Dubrovnik ( Croatia ). We have similar climate as Southern California. And we can grow both any kind of Daffodils and all Hippeastrum hybrids in garden whole year round.

Wild Daffodils paperwhites are flowering just now on cliffs near the sea.

Narcissus Bulb Fly is native to British isles ( and introduced in other areas ). In native habbitat their primary larva food are Bluebell bulbs, not daffodils.

Beautiful!

oh ! I have many wild bluebells too !