HELP! 2 types of tiny flies in my house...

sparkles · #1 (**permalink**) 19-09-2009, 11:25 AM

Hi,
Wondering if anyone can help- my house seems to have developed an infestation of tiny flies (about 2 1/2mm) i first noticed them flying around my kitchen-then i went to get a bread muffin from the packet and there was loads in there. I have looked on net and the most likely explanation is fruit flies? but i thought they may be too small. (Also there were loads on damp flannel in bathroom) I havent had any gone off fruit around and I keep the house clean so i dont know how they got here originally! They are also really difficult to swat-bit like the standard 'fly'! What are they and how do i get rid of them?!!

Also im not sure if this is related but yesterday i came in from the garden and all over the top of my lounge and bedroom window were tiny little flies (smaller than the above-about 1 1/2mm). These were easy to swat- they sort of jumped around instead of flying like the above. What are these? and where did they come from?!

Thanks in advance for the help!

JRsbugs · #2 (**permalink**) 19-09-2009, 11:37 AM

Hi,

two possibilities I can think of.

One is fungus gnats, do you have pot plants? They breed in damp compost and look black, they do tend to jump about.

The other is a type of Barklice in the family Psocoptera which like damp places inside and can be a pest. The wings are much longer than the body, if you could magnify one you would be amazed just how cute they look! You can't see the details with the eye but you might notice the long clear wings.

I had only a couple inside earlier in the year, I have since found them outside on plants as well as their young nymphs. I'll upload a couple of pics of the male and female, they were mostly near each other.

Janet

sparkles · #3 (**permalink**) 19-09-2009, 11:42 AM

thats something i forgot to mention, I have no pot plants at all in my house!

JRsbugs · #4 (**permalink**) 19-09-2009, 11:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sparkles

thats something i forgot to mention, I have no pot plants at all in my house!

That points to other things then! There's often other small gnat-like insects around at this time of year, I have recently seen quite a lot on the outside of the windows but I don't know if they would go for your bread.

There is a type of barklice which does inhabit damp places inside, this pair of male and female I took outside but they are the same as I had inside, but only the one pair which I put outside. I guess they might have been the same pair I saw later!

Jason Green · #5 (**permalink**) 19-09-2009, 08:13 PM

Evening Sparkles, and welcome to WAB

As you said, I think they'll be Fruit Flies, or maybe flies from the Ephydridae family... there are plenty of different flies you may come across indoors.

Your second sounds like maybe a Moth Fly of the scientific family Psychodidae.

Google these descriptions and see what you think. If you can get a photo, that'll really help!

Great shots of the barkflies Janet. Psocopterans are a great area to study. I won't shamelessly use this as a chance to tell you I photographed Blaste quadrimaculata earlier this year, don't worry...

Take care,

Jason

JRsbugs · #6 (**permalink**) 19-09-2009, 09:14 PM

This article may help, but a pic would help even more. However, these are tiny insects so you do need a good macro lens.

Psocids, Booklice, Barklice | Iowa Insect Information Notes

The small flies outside are possibly the same or similar to the ones I had, they come in droves on a warm night. There's a lot of tiny gnats (mostly non-biting!) and if you have open windows at night they do come inside, it could be you had not noticed them earlier. Another insect which jumps about is the very small Chalcid wasps, I occasionally get one inside but I doubt you would have swarms of them.