Flies!!!

[susie]

I know there are some people here that are experts in odd sort of things so thought it would be worth asking!

I am finding one or two buzzy flies zooming around inside the house every day that I have to chase out of a window as they drive me nuts. Now I am aware that somewhere there must be some larvae or something as even with the windows shut I still get them - but how the hell do I track down where they are coming from as I am getting annoyed with them now.

As far as I am aware there are no dead bodies or rubbish that they could be living on, and there are no nasty smells or anything

Any (sensible) ideas welcomed :shrug:

 

[david1701]

if its insured burnt the place down

 

[photon]

They are house flies (Musca domestica). You should've bought a bungalow! (They know the difference.)

 

[susie]

if its insured burnt the place down

At the moment the way they keep arriving, if I did not have stuff in it that I would rather like to keep it would be tempting

They are house flies (Musca domestica). You should've bought a bungalow! (They know the difference.)

Hmmm, homehow I doubt it - if the doors are closed they stay downstairs

 

[david1701]

actually helpful advice would be to get an electric fly killer and set it up, helps a bit first year and a LOT second year as no eggs are layed, we have one in the loft and one in the kitchen and it works well

 

[Robert Davies]

"Beelzebug (n.) : Satan in the form of a mosquito, that gets into your bedroom at 3 a.m. and cannot be cast out."

Not just mosquitos now

-Rob

 

[Alison]

I suspect that these might be the bad boys you’ve got problems with Susie – cluster flies (link below). They do terrible things to earthworms then crawl up your exterior masonry and take up residence in the loft. Unfortunately they don’t remain there as you’ve discovered. They were a real pest in my previous house although I really enjoyed swatting them!

http://www.the-piedpiper.co.uk/th6e.htm

 

[susie]

Thanks, they could well be the little sods!! I will check next time I see one for the gold colour hairs and see if they have any - so far I have only seen them as being black like the one at the top ogf the page on the link you gave, but I will look more closely now!
If it is them I will just fly spray the loft and cellar to see if that will shift them, I don't really fancy the smoke stuff for some reason

 

[frank]

Could be a bit dog muck hidden in a plant or nearby, you know the saying...10000 flies cant be wrong

 

[susie]

Could be a bit dog muck hidden in a plant or nearby, you know the saying...10000 flies cant be wrong

Sadly there are no plants close enough to hide anything like that, although I did have a good look around outside just in case there was anywhere for them to be coming from.
Fly killer spray is on the shopping list for tomorrow and will be heading into the loft in case there are any up there.

So far no more have appeared today since I evicted the ones that were buzzing around this morning

 

[Cobra]

OK here we go, if its not bleeding wasps its clusterflies (that is assuming that you have ID'd them by now)

Now then, as the weather gets colder these little buggers get in the roof space to hibernate.
As the day warms up they go out side.
As the temperature drops they will spend more time
inside
your best bet is to wait until after the first decent frost, those that are inside will be there
to stay those that didn't make it inside will be dead,
so there shouldn't be a transient population interacting with your lovely warm roof space.

BTW they get into the house by dropping though light fittings "sunken" light fittings are favourite. And also any small gaps around wall ceiling joints exposed beams etc
They are also attracted to light ( like most insects, so you are likely to find them dead on the window sill as they starve trying to get out, )
The houses that seem to be most at risk are those newly built on green sites, barn conversions
and older properties surrounded by farmland and or wood land ( this is their normal habitat.)

By the time the cold weather hits ( if it does) there may well be tens of thousands of these little fellas in your loft
EFK's ( blue light fly zappers) fly sprays and other concoctions such as "fly lures" are pretty much in effective
against the hoards

I have tried all sorts of methods to kill these and the best one is a smoke borne
insecticide containing Permethrin.
and the best way to get this is to get a local pest controller on the job.
( an inspection / survey to confirm that they are the problem will normally be free)

If you faff around you may well end up spending a lot more on "consumer products" than getting the job done professionally

Here endeth the lesson for today from your friendly assasinator of all things pest like

 

[smooth]

chris you are a legend of the bug assassinators!! I wonder just how many of those 10k posts have gone towards helping kindly?
Diversification is part of what makes TP great!
Nice one dude!

 

[david1701]

chris you are a legend of the bug assassinators!! I wonder just how many of those 10k posts have gone towards helping kindly?
Diversification is part of what makes TP great!
Nice one dude!

about 3, 4k were about boobs and the other 6k were just being a PITA

 

[Cobra]

chris you are a legend of the bug assassinators!! I wonder just how many of those 10k posts have gone towards helping kindly?
Diversification is part of what makes TP great!
Nice one dude!

Is that the foot end or the arse end you refer to :shrug:

My pleasure

 

[Cobra]

about 3, 4k were about boobs and the other 6k were just being a PITA

Yeah thats close enough

 

[smooth]

any end!

Oh and by the way - epic fail on forgetting to reply to the one and only bug related post I put on

 

[Cobra]

any end!

Oh and by the way - epic fail on forgetting to reply to the one and only bug related post I put on

Didn't see it :shrug: Ah well

Send me link and I'll have a look if its still relevant

 

[smooth]

Linky

Luckily he has upped and moved out now...
I bet there would have been some sort of smoke grenade I could have used

The thread even had your name in it!

 

[Cobra]

Linky

Luckily he has upped and moved out now...
I bet there would have been some sort of smoke grenade I could have used

The thread even had your name in it!

Ah sorry missed that one, but there were a few others I had replied to, with the same type of problem.
These threads are a bit like Pokémon I guess I can't catch 'em all

(And sorry Susie for going somewhat off topic)

 

[Ian D J]

Couldn't let this thread go by without me putting this few-months old cartoon of mine's in it:

 

[smooth]

Sorry Susie. Very rude of me and sorry from distracting the terminator.

 

[susie]

love the cartoon!!!

Don't worry about going off topic, all adds to the store of stuff for my brain cell

Well the temps have dropped a bit here, and none of the little darlings have appeared today so there is a possibility that the ones who did invade and who were evicted have gone to annoy someone else. My loft should be fairly cold as there is plenty of insulation up there now - think I will just not turn the heating on so they will find another house thats nice and warm to live in

Thanks for the info if I do get any more I will play hunt for a local "assasinator of all things pest like" and send them into the loft with some anti fly smoke!!

 

[Cobra]

Well the temps have dropped a bit here, and none of the little darlings have appeared today so there is a possibility that the ones who did invade and who were evicted have gone to annoy someone else.

Ah but thats the ploy you see as it get colder they sleep and you don't know they are there until the next spring......
as it get warmer they wake up and interact between your space and the outside
its only the "odd few" that get lost on the journey that you see.
Get up in the loft with a torch ( don't turn the light on) and have a good look around you may be surprised how many are actually in there ( or not if your lucky)

My loft should be fairly cold as there is plenty of insulation up there now - think I will just not turn the heating on so they will find another house thats nice and warm to live in

Ah but its still warmer in there than the outside
and should remain frost free usually around 4oC thats enough for them to survive

Thanks for the info if I do get any more I will play hunt for a local "assasinator of all things pest like" and send them into the loft with some anti fly smoke!!

If required this (BPCA linky) is a good place to check out and you shouldn't get ripped
off this is the industry association and you have to jump through quite a few
hoops to get registered, its not a "pay your money & your in" "club"
Just put in your post code and it will return a reputable pestie in your area
for all your pestie needs

 

[susie]

Ah but thats the ploy you see as it get colder they sleep and you don't know they are there until the next spring......
as it get warmer they wake up and interact between your space and the outside
its only the "odd few" that get lost on the journey that you see.
Get up in the loft with a torch ( don't turn the light on) and have a good look around you may be surprised how many are actually in there ( or not if your lucky)
Ok, so tomorrow morning its off to the loft I go - if I'm not online again you know the steps collapsed and where to find me


Ah but its still warmer in there than the outside
and should remain frost free usually around 4oC thats enough for them to survive
Hmmm, I need to refrigerate it better or put a map in there showing the route to a warm living area next door




If required this (BPCA linky) is a good place to check out and you shouldn't get ripped
off this is the industry association and you have to jump through quite a few
hoops to get registered, its not a "pay your money & your in" "club"
Just put in your post code and it will return a reputable pestie in your area
for all your pestie needs

2 in easy reach, bookmarked the site as it may come in handy.

Thanks a lot

 

[Cobra]

2 in easy reach, bookmarked the site as it may come in handy.

Thanks a lot

No worries