# Flies 2020



## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Is it me or does there seem to be more flies trying to hibernate in the autumn sun?
We kill thousands and vac them up only to get hundreds more creep in via vents or moisture drains. 

Opening a window you have to be ready with the vac and swatter. We have never know so many before.

Ray.


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## rayc (Jun 3, 2008)

Whilst being tormented by flies in Spain last year I read up about their life cycle. One statistic that stuck in my mind was that at any one time there are 17quadrilion flies in the world [17,000,000,000,000]. Apparently for each person on earth, there are 17 million flies. I haven't worked out if those two statistics concur or contradict but suffice to say in Spain I appeared to have my share.
A BBC item about Flies says "Like all insects they don't truly hibernate, but enter a state of diapause, which slows down their development and appetite, until temperatures rise and they become active again."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/earth/story/20... they don,have a surprising taste: earthworms.


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Thanks ray. We feel that we are getting more than our usual share this autumn.
The garden shed has one side facing the sun and is almost black with them. The conservatory western end is covered.

Ray.


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## Glandwr (Jun 12, 2006)

Went up into the attic last autumn. There were what seemed like millions of ladybirds crawing over every surface (horizontal and vertical) as well as flying. Sersiously ugh!


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

I spray a contact insecticide onto some surfaces around the house and into dark parts of the hedge where flies and particularly mosquitos may congregate. We have a moderate fly problem here and after years of never having seen a mosquito here this year we had plenty.

If anyone wants the name I will go and look.


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

You need these Ray.
I had three doted about in the garden this year and not too many flies in the house, but these things were full of them.
Must be 15 meters from the house as they stink at times.
https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B0...a7d-aac12ef08c29&pf_rd_r=BQ9Q10JYEYMCCPDWX3RB


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Yes Jan and Alan. Summer time at the first sign of a wasp I use the bottle traps with coke and beer bait and can get a pound of bodies a week. Flies and wasps. 

Ray.


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## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

Ray


Did you not know - flies swarm just before the vultures hover?


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

Flies are a nuisance because of their habit of pouring out saliva onto their food source (your cheese, fruit, bread, etc or perhaps dog doodahs or rotting flesh - yuk), then they stamp around to break it all up, then suck up via their proboscis.......

Ladybirds are supposedly the good guys, because they eat aphids and black flies, so great to have in greenhouses, but a real PITA when they try to overwinter in window seals.

The other problem we have at present are shield bugs, aka stink bugs or Punaise, don't touch / squash / try to evict or anything else. If you have never tried they secrete a horrendous smelling liquid onto your skin after about 2s of touching them, and that stuff does not wash off whatever you use.. it is a pheromone and they also secrete another one that attracts other stink bugs.... so do not touch.

Sadly, IMO, there are virtually no insecticides that actually work, you can spray, spray, spray but they stay, stay, stay and the best use of the aerosol s to hit the offending insect with..... but if that insect happens to be _Palomena prasina _ then my notes re stink bugs apply - they are VERY common in France.


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## baldlygo (Sep 19, 2006)

Here is one on my satellite box. Please ignore the dust


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

That one looks a foreigner Paul.

Ray.


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

baldlygo said:


> Here is one on my satellite box. Please ignore the dust


A glass with a piece of paper should surely do the trick.


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

baldlygo said:


> Here is one on my satellite box. Please ignore the dust


Not a lot of dust on that insect.....

I THINK that it is *Rhaphigaster nebulosa* the Mottled Shield Bug, but that identification is based on a photographic rather than a systematic key.

They breed in May, producing only one generation a year and overwinter as an adult. Their colouration does vary. They are common throughout Europe (the term common refers to the number that may be encountered as a measure of abundance.

They were first named by Nicolaus Poda in 1761.

Sadly, they are likely to be found in sheltered places and are one of the varieties that does produce the unpleasant smell already described.


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## baldlygo (Sep 19, 2006)

raynipper said:


> That one looks a foreigner Paul.
> 
> Ray.


I think it looks odd because of it's wings. 
It disappeared Jan so perhaps it is hiding until next year.

Here is a different variety from Oct 2018


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

I think I would in*stink*tivley poot my foot on it.


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

baldlygo said:


> I think it looks odd because of it's wings.
> It disappeared Jan so perhaps it is hiding until next year.
> 
> Here is a different variety from Oct 2018


Once again, a tentative identification (colour is never a good guide because they change as the year passes eg Green shield bugs become brown simply as they overwinter), that one is, I think

*Rhynocoris annulatus* no English common name, found in France, but more common in South, it is a carnivore and has a powerful pair of jaws that it will use if handled.... no smell reported though.... not common in houses, it normally overwinters below vegetation, but may enter houses accidentally.


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

Here in Norfolk we have our fair share of chicken, turkey and pig housing. Every now and then we get a surge of flies similar to the one you describe Ray. A call to environmental health usually results in them visiting all the local farms to check on their fly control measures. They are supposed to use the large fly traps all over the site where the animals are kept, so they check that they are in place. Then they check for dead bodies (animal or avian) that have not been dealt with. It used to be common practice to just leave dead piglets for them to rot and you would see the odd leg or head spread, with the manure, on the surrounding land. 

My guess is that there is a dead creature somewhere that has hosted a breeding frenzy near you Ray.


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Always possible Pat but we do have a rather mucky farm two or three fields away with sadly many veal calves. I doubt any official will dare suggest a Normandy farmer cleans up his plot. 
But in chatting many friends here also seem to be suffering the same infestation at the moment. Somehow they are managing to get into crevices not seen before. We kill them all in the house at night only to find a few dozen more on windows or lamps in the morning. My dustbuster is working overtime. 

Ray.


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

Rotting flesh is what they love to lay their eggs in so I suspect that is what has happened. Then the body is moved and the flies all go looking for other food sources. Yuk!


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

Anyone here ever had one of those fly/mosquito killing machines? If so can you tell me the make and model please.


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

erneboy said:


> Anyone here ever had one of those fly/mosquito killing machines? If so can you tell me the make and model please.


We've had two different ones and they are a waste of time. They emit light of a specific wavelength supposedly because it attracts the flies and mosquitoes. Sadly the insects concerned have not read the instruction manual and ignore them totally.


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Sadly they only seem to attract moths Alan.

Ray.


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

Thanks. Yes, we had a couple which were useless too.


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

The Red Tops which Jan linked to are excellent at trapping them. We have one hanging on a tree at the front of the house and another out the back. They are both heaving. You put the stuff on the compost heap when finished.


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