Attic Flies Uk

Cluster flies aka attic flies get their name from clustering together in large numbers over the winter months.

Attic flies uk.

Most commonly they move from the ground to your attic for the winter when it gets cold. Cluster fly from wikipedia the free encyclopedia the grass flies or cluster flies or attic flies are the genus pollenia in the family polleniidae are completely harmless to human health. Light and dark gray checkered abdomens. Cluster fly image licensed under cc.

Adults measure 8 to 10 millimeters. Appearance what do they look like. Cluster flies are often known also as attic flies. These are not the same as the blue bottles that buzz hard against the windows in the warmer weather or the house flies and smaller flies that are active in summer too.

Naturally your house is warmer. Attic flies which are also known as cluster flies are insects that often migrate into homes in the fall where they hibernate for the cooler fall and winter months. By instinct they seek shelter away from the elements such as in the fall when it gets cold. The females lay their eggs near earthworm burrows and the larvae then feed on the worms.

Flies that gather in roofs around windows and on walls inside in the autumn and winter are called cluster flies also known as attic flies. Cluster flies facts identification control latin name. Cluster flies also known as attic flies are household pests. They are known to give off a sickly odour and they also have a big effect on earthworms around your home.

Cluster flies then re emerge around late winter spring time when they can become a problem again. Thus the common name they have of attic flies. They are strictly parasitic on earthworms. They are greyish olive in colour and adorned with golden hairs which makes them quite distinctive to the trained eye.

Cluster or attic flies are the genus pollenia in the blowfly family calliphoridae. They require warm places to hibernate over winter. And the easiest entrance is usually through external gaps leading to your attic. The thorax of an adult cluster fly is covered in short golden hairs and the wings overlap when at rest.

Cluster flies habits mean that they are no real risk to human health like most common flies but they are a nuisance. Cluster fly larvae develop inside earthworms living in the ground outside of homes. The anomaly is that cluster flies may try to get into one house but may stay clear of a neighbouring house even if it is a pair of semi detached properties. Unlike more familiar blow flies such as the bluebottle genus phormia they do not present a health hazard because they do not lay eggs in human food.