17 Flies and 1 Wasp. In January.

[RichyW]

Hi everyone - I've had to escort 17 flies and 1 wasp from my house today, after not seeing a fly or wasp for months. Anyone know what might be going on?

Richy

[squishy]

the rise in heat after the last few weeks of sub 0 might trigger them.

[RichyW]

Thanks.

I am completely ignorant about these things - have they been hibernating somewhere in my house and maybe woken up because it's so mild today? If so, is it normal to have so many of them hibernating in your house? Where do they hide themselves?

[JRsbugs]

Have you got any pot plants inside? How big are the flies? Sciarid flies live in moist compost, but you might have had some other pupae hiding in a pot if it had been outside. I bring a lot of pots inside, get the odd sciarid which visits me and my computer occasionally.

It did warm up a little today, but was still only around 2C outside here. If you had a wasp hibernating inside it might have thought it was spring, it should be a queen at this time of year as the rest would have died off by now. It will get a big shock outside!

Janet

[RichyW]

There is one pot plant inside, but these flies are what I'd call 'normal' flies - about the size of a finger or thumb nail.

[ChrisR]

They sound like 'Cluster Flies' - calliphorids that come indoors to hibernate in large groups. They usually choose cool outbuildings but I guess a chimney would do ... and when the weather warms a bit they can get confused and find their way into houses.

[RichyW]

Thanks for the advice. Having now googled 'cluster flies', that sounds a plausible explanation. Worryingly so. I have removed another 5 flies already this morning, and I've only been up half an hour.

A couple of the websites I browsed said that the way to get rid of them is to seal up the point where they're entering the house. Alas, I have no idea where this is. One of the worrying things is that I've found them in every room of the house.

Yikes. Any further advice on whether the problem is likely to persist, and if so, how to deal with it, would be greatly appreciated.

[JRsbugs]

Do You have an unused chimney, or at least air vents into one where they could get through? They live in the roof space too, if you have an older house where sparrows can nest even more likely. If so, do you have a cupboard over the stairs, if you have stairs? If so, you might find a gap through to the roof there.