The large, black, pesky flies that show up in bed rooms and on window sills from late fall through early spring are a common household pest. These flies are known as cluster flies, a name that describes their habit of clustering in large numbers inside attics. Their abundance varies from year to year, possibly in relation to the amount of rainfall through the summer.

Cluster flies do not reproduce indoors, and home owners bothered by these pests do not need to fear the flies are "hatching" from a dead animal or other unpleasant material within the attic or walls. Cluster flies develop as parasites inside the bodies of earthworms. There are three generations of flies produced each summer, and the final generation of the season migrates to houses and other buildings during mid to late September. Casual observation of client reports suggests houses located on an exposed hill top or high ground are most attractive to these migrating flies.

The flies cluster on the warm sides of buildings in late summer during the day. When the sun goes down and the temperatures cool, these flies crawl into the building through cracks under the eaves and around windows or through gaps in the siding. Once inside and secured in a protected location, they remain in hibernation until warmed by heat from the furnace or the sun.

As the flies warm throughout the winter, and especially in the early spring, they come out of their cold temperature dormancy and begin sluggishly moving around. Their random crawling brings them into the house by way of electrical outlets, window pulley holes, and small openings around windows, moldings and base boards.

Cluster flies are difficult to control in homes because they hibernate within inaccessible places. Because they hide inside walls or under insulation, they are usually not vulnerable to treatment until they appear within the living space of the house. Preventing attic flies is a job for the summer and fall. As much as possible, seal cracks and openings around the outside of the house, especially under the eaves, as you would for energy conservation. Insecticides can be used on the outside of the house in mid-September if you have a persistent problem with attic flies. Remember the problem varies greatly from year to year and is worse than average this year. It may not be bad again until we have another wet summer. The outdoor treatment with residual insecticides such as garden sprays labeled for exterior house treatment, or cattle barn fly sprays is difficult and potentially messy. I would not routinely advise this treatment for most home owners.

Unfortunately, there is little that can be done for flies already inside the attic and walls. Space sprays and fogs into the attic have little if any affect, as the flies are usually under insulation or deep in cracks and crevices. They do not fly around much in attics. Therefore, fly paper, fly strips and bug zappers are of no value. [A possible exception would be placement of a professional fly control electrocutor within suspended ceilings (warmed space) of commercial buildings by a pest control operator after a determination of likely fly routes of entry.]

Flies buzzing within a room can be dispatched with a fly swatter, a short burst from a household insecticide aerosol sprayer or the hand vacuum or shop-vac.

Bugaboo^®  Pest Control, LLC doityou

Ant exterminate, odorous house ant exterminate, Carpet beetles exterminate, caterpillars exterminate, catapillers exterminate, centipedes exterminate, crazy ant exterminate, dursban exterminate, entomology exterminate, flea exterminate, flies exterminate, bebbugs exterminate, bed-bugs exterminate, bed bugs exterminate, hornets exterminate, yellowjackets exterminate, wasps exterminate, cloth moth exterminate, colthes moth extSerminate, clothing moth exterminate, clovermite exterminate, clover-mite exterminate, clover might exterminate, cricket exterminate, food bugs exterminate, food and pantry bugs exterminate, fruitfly exterminate, fruit flies exterminate, fruit-flies exterminate, head-lice exterminate, head lice exterminate, hobo exterminate, lady bug exterminate, lady-bug exterminate, lady-bug exterminate, little tiny ants exterminate, sugar ants exterminate, piss ants exterminate, mole exterminate, mole information exterminate, lice exterminate, lyme disease exterminate, lime disease exterminate, sowbugs exterminate, sow-bugs exterminate, sow bugs exterminate, Anobiid exterminate, Powderpost Beetles exterminate, Coleoptera exterminate, Anobium punctatum exterminate, Xestobium rufovillosum exterminate, parasites exterminate, Brownbanded exterminate, American cockroach exterminate, Oriental cockroach exterminate, German cockroach exterminate, mosquitoes exterminate, Diptera exterminate, Culicidae exterminate, rorway rats exterminate, roof rats exterminate, beetles exterminate, beatles exterminate,

rselfpestcontrol do-it-yourself-pest-control do_it_yourself_pest_control doyourownpestcontrol do-your-own-pest-control do_your_own_pest_control pestcontrolsupplies pest-control-supplies  pest_control_supplies bugoutlet bug-outlet bug_outlet pestproducts pest-products pest_products victorpest victor_pest victor-pest orkin terminex amazonpest
Copyright © 2001 [Alan Luke]. All rights reserved.
Revised: 07/31/08. Home