Fly ID - Help Please

[hgoldsbywest]

Please help - I have seen a number of flies over the last 2 days in my front bedroom. I have looked on the internet and as the loft hatch as been open research would suggest that these are cluster flies but they don't look like the pictures of cluster flies on the web.

The flies are light brown in colour and have small wings that are generally retracted. They seem to prefer to move around the walls like a spider rather than fly, and have quite noticable feet. I don't know whether they bite but one did land on me today - didn't give it the chance to bite.

They are also difficult to kill by stamping they seem pretty resilient.

Can anyone please help?

Thanks

Helen

[Dogghound]

Can you get a photo? even a bad one will do.

[Jason Green]

...or even a really, really bad one!

The fact that they are hard to kill to me rules out CFs, these are moderate-sized IMO and, theoretically, easily squashed. How big are they? If they live in the loft it'll be dark most of the time so I'd have thought a need to fly would have been limited, hence their reluctance.

I'm bizarrely considering Chironomidae... no real idea why

I'll look forward to a photo

[JRsbugs]

I know what Helen means, there have been other threads about it. I think it's in family Hippoboscidae.

Janet

[hgoldsbywest]

Thanks everyone. Unfortuntaley they are all dead at the mo..but if one re-appears tomorrow I will take a pic and post.

I have never seen them before and thought the first one was a spider. Loft hatch is shut but will post tomorrow and let you know - hopefully get a pic. I could not find any pics at all of anything similar.

I know this may have no bearing at all but the neighbours in the adjoining house have been having new windows fitted for the last 2 days so this may have disturbed them if they were domant somewhere?

[hgoldsbywest]

Janet just looked at pics of what you suggested online. Where do they come from and do they bite?

Thanks

[Jason Green]

Originally Posted by hgoldsbywest

Thanks everyone. Unfortuntaley they are all dead at the mo..but if one re-appears tomorrow I will take a pic and post.

I know this may have no bearing at all but the neighbours in the adjoining house have been having new windows fitted for the last 2 days so this may have disturbed them if they were domant somewhere?

Even a bad pic of a dead one will help - please post one!

I doubt they'd have been dormant - this time of year is when most species are active! So they have long legs then? As I said, if you can, post one up...

[hgoldsbywest]

will post one tomo. Have a look at the fly that Janet suggested in her post.. I think this may be it, in fact pretty sure but will send a pic tomo.

Thanks for alll your help, I wouldn't have known where to start!!

[hgoldsbywest]

The legs are almost a bit chunky and long ish .. the feet are quite bulbous.

[Dogghound]

Do you have any birds nesting in your roof?