Flies invading the house......help!!

madmaggie

I wonder if anyone else has this problem at this time of year. Every night when I draw the curtains the folds are loaded with house flies. The outside walls of my neighbours house is covered in them, and she also has them in the curtains. We are way out in the country, not near any smelly places. Could it be the weather?

TopTec

I don't think smell has anything to do with it MM. Being in the country is enough. I think they are fruit flies. They only live a couple of days but are so annoying. They are not after food just living out the last of their short lives.

My white walls are covered in them and any open windows draws in 100's. So it is either stuffy fly free house or constant buzzing. I have a night pre-bed routine of shaking the curtains and removing the flies from the bedroom as they drive me mad when I am trying to get to sleep.

TT

kingtiger

best thing for Fruit flies is a glass or jar with some Apple cider vinegar in it, cover the glass with cellophane and poke some small holes in it

the feckers can't resist the Vinegar

magicbastarder

the OP mentioned house flies, which are not easily confused with fruit flies.
are they a fairly solid black colour?

maringo

To keep out house flies from my open back door i use a string curtain on a rail I got in Ikea holds up itself and easily put away for the winter - very effective. Otherwise I'd be inundated from them coming in. I have a battery operated fly bat (like a tennis racquet) that I can get the odd one that gets in an open window. Fruit flies are fairly tiny compared to house fly but midges will be attracted by the light and will come in - fine mesh fixed to the opening part of the window should keep them out.

TopTec

After a little research Cluster flies seem to be the culprits.

They appear on the sunny side of the structure in heaviest concentrations in late fall and early winter, as they seek warm locations in which to live during cold months. Although cluster flies are observed buzzing and congregating at windows, screens may prove ineffective in preventing their entrance. Cluster flies are capable of crawling through small openings in the walls of a structure. They hibernate in secluded parts of houses like attics and wall voids. On sunny winter days, the wall voids become warm and the cluster flies try to move toward light. Very often they find themselves in the inhabited parts of the house and the move to the windows. They cluster around the windows and they leave stains on walls and curtains if crushed.

http://www.orkin.com/flies/cluster-flies/

TT

Squeaksoutloud

I have the same issue with lots of cluster flies in the frames of my windows..sprayed the areas today and will need to try and clean the frames over the weekend. Haven't checked the attic yet tho!

Have a google..seems to be some measures can be taken and even a good thread here.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=68513360

Will see how far I will have to go to get rid of them all!

Markcheese

We had these feckers in our house when we first moved in about 8 years ago , big ,black, slow moving , were driving me nuts, usually around January..
I was running around with the Hoover,
Gradually got less and less..might see 1 or 2 now ...

madmaggie

Wow, thanks everyone for the responses. They are getting fewer, though still on my nightly murder mission. I found leaving the windows open for just a couple of hours instead of all day was a help. I've never heard of cluster flies, I assumed they were ordinary house flies, noisy little feckers.

Desmo

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cluster_fly