little flies everywhere !

Grimbal

I feel a slattern.

For the last couple of weeks, we've had dozens of little flies (think fruit flies) by almost every window in the house. They've been most dense at the back of the property, where we're getting a patio built

At first we thought it was a combination of the disruption & the wet weather we've been having, but the little blighters are still dying in droves on my windowsills.

is it me? Any ideas how I can locate the source of the plague or try to reduce the numbers?

Leif

How big are they?

Have you recently used compost e.g. for house plants or for the garden? I have had fungus gnats several times from compost, and I now avoid the brand. Bad compost can contain insect larvae.

Do some local children hate you? I kid you not, I had some little ***** putting maggots through my letter box, and I returned home to a house full of flies. The evidence was maggot casings beneath the front door.

Grimbal

oooo, sorry to hear about that, that must've been horrible

We haven't been doing any re-potting, but we have had the garden (front & back) dug up for a patio & driveway - could that be it? Lots of soil movement & disruption?

fatbikersbouncebetter

If you have standard laminate work tops in your kitchen check around the sink and drainer area for damp in the woodchip that the worktop us made of. This can attract tiny black flies that lay eggs in the sap/resin.

Grimbal

sorry to bump this thread again, but we're still suffering from hundreds of these little flies They're very small- a couple of millimetres, but not fruit flies. They've taken to congregating mostly in the kitchen & family bathroom, a few in the lounge, and a few in the new master that's been built.

there is a lot of standing water around - outside & in the new drains waiting to be connected to the sewer. Funny thing is though, that the family bathroom (definitely) & the kitchen (probably) are still on the existing drain connection, so presumably still running

any ideas?

Leif

If they are that small then they could be fungus gnats. Do they have a rather pathetic wobbly flight pattern? You can easily check by searching online for pictures - also called Sciarid flies I think - and then examining one of them.

I don't think soil movement would explain it. You might do better to ask on a natural history forum, where entomologists hang out. If there really is nothing in the house that could be a source, then they must come from outside. I suppose standing water could be a source, or something foetid outside, though I suppose you would have noticed that. Could they be from a neighbours land?

maninthestreet

Would these be the beasties?


http://drainflies.org/

Grimbal

sorry for the delay.


Yup that's the critters unfortunately. Which leaves me with 2 possibilities:


1. they're coming from our old (60ish year) drains


2. they're coming from our new drains that are not yet connected to the main sewer but, ahem, have been inadvertently used by the odd builder or 5.

Although "2" seems more likely, I'm concerned that it may be the first reason as

a. our existing drains are notorious for blocking up
b. the flies are worst in rooms connected to the existing drains
c. there are no/only a few flies in rooms that are connected to the new drains


I'm usually pretty level headed when it comes to sharing my home with various types of insect/spider species, but the numbers of these little flies is really getting to me. The fly tapes are covered in a couple of days, and are worst in the kitchen, which is the one place you want clean & hygenic

Blackjack_Davy

Yup, fungus gnats, sciarid flies, drain flies - call 'em what you will, the grubs live in damp rotting soil, compost, or any kind of organic humusy material thats permanently wet - and that includes the gunk that accumulates in blocked drains.

Your options are:

a) get the drains sorted out i.e. unblock them
b) seal them if they're not in use
c) tip some chemical down to kill the blighters - drain clearing fluid, insecticide or even bleach. They will come back though. Suggest a) as the only long term solution.

McCalls

We had drain flies in our old house where our downstairs shower was leaking to a void beneath our home. We thought they were in our orchids (im an avid orchid grower) but we had rentokil round eventually who found the leak, advised us to clear it and then they treated the flies with a pesticide and that killed them.

We felt like right scuzzers whilst we had them. Those sticky fly tapes were full within days. Was gross.

Rentokil said unless we fixed the leaking problem that would continue to bread on the water surface.

Good luck.

cattie

I'm glad you asked this question as I'm sure these are what have been congregating outside the front of my house for the past week or 2. When the front door is open a few of them manage to nip in, but fortunately so far have been contained in the hall and I've been able to zap them.

However, coming home today, I noticed a terrific amount of them crawling over my front door and around the outside windows and over a couple of my plastic dustbins. I've been out and zapped them with some insect spray, but think if they appear to have returned tomorrow, I'll have to follow the instructions given in maninthestreets link.