Small round black fly

ian_g · #1 (**permalink**) 17-08-2010, 04:02 PM

Hi all,

Sorry to be so vague but I'm hoping that someone will be able to ID this fly from as good a description as I can give. I live in Havant, Hampshire, about three miles from the coast, if that helps with pinpointing what it might be.

I was out in my back garden last night, at around 8pm and a small, very round (possibly 3mm maximum in diameter), jet black fly landed on my leg. I saw it and brushed it off. It had a very erratic flight pattern and I thought it had gone, only for it to land on my leg again, this time biting me. The pain was incredible, like a thick pin going into my flesh.

I batted it off and it had left a red fleshy hole, about the same size as itself and within half an hour I started experiencing pins and needles in the immediate area and beyond.

24 hours later, the area of the bite has tripled and the reddish 'infected' area is about the diameter of a tennis ball. It's that painful that if I put my whole weight on the bitten leg, it hurts quite a bit.

Any ideas what the man-eating insect is?

Jason Green · #2 (**permalink**) 17-08-2010, 04:06 PM

Afternoon Ian,

Sorry to hear about the pain, hope it eases up soon.

Run a Google image search for Anthocoridae (not very scientific, but these are more-often-than-not microscope jobs looking for shine and hairs!). These bite and are a similar size, though I don't knoiw about the effects.

Take care,

Jason

Wild-Woman · #3 (**permalink**) 17-08-2010, 04:15 PM

Could be the Blandford Fly. Google the pictures of it. Sounds and may look like your biter!

ian_g · #4 (**permalink**) 17-08-2010, 04:18 PM

Thanks Jason, some look similar although I'm almost certain it was round. I've since noticed that it actually bit me three times in total, the other two becoming equally, if not more, painful.

The first one was just below the knee, the other two are above the knee, one as far as half way up my thigh. The latter giving me the same sort of pain as when I had a groin injury (when I was spritely enough to play football

)

I'm wondering if it's worth going out in the garden tonight, in the hope that I can lure one out and capture it to photograph... would that be tempting fate though?!

ian_g · #5 (**permalink**) 17-08-2010, 04:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wild-Woman

Could be the Blandford Fly. Google the pictures of it. Sounds and may look like your biter!

That's the chap! Thank you so much for IDing, it's exactly right.

gtj-45 · #6 (**permalink**) 17-08-2010, 04:27 PM

Hi, I got bitten by one of those Anthocoridae (flower bug) flies two days ago. It's amazing how much the bite hurts in relation to the size of the bug. Felt like a hot pin being pushed into my hand. The next day it was quite swollen and a real punture wound was showing up. Very itchy too. It's now just a red dot on my hand. Hope you find out what your fly was.
I'd be careful, tempting fate is not always good -

Wild-Woman · #7 (**permalink**) 17-08-2010, 04:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ian_g

That's the chap! Thank you so much for IDing, it's exactly right.

I can remember an Aunty of mine getting bitten. She lived in Bournemouth and there was a bit of a plague of them at the time. Her leg was painful for a good while. Glad you know what it was now. Hope it gets better soon.

ian_g · #8 (**permalink**) 17-08-2010, 04:44 PM

I found this very useful site, explaining the fly in-depth and what to do if bitten by one. Needless to say, I've now taken an antihistamine

Blandford Fly - Bite Treatment

ian_g · #9 (**permalink**) 18-08-2010, 10:12 PM

Hi all,

Since Monday night's attack by the small round black fly, perfectly identified by Wild Woman, the whole area gradually became worse.

After having an almost sleepless night last night due to the pain from the bite and the fact that it was more intense every time I turned over during my sleep, I decided to book myself an appointment at the doctors.

When I actually got out of bed this morning, it was difficult to put my whole body weight on my right leg so I knew this was more than just a bite.

Having been, it turns out I have Cellulitis which has spread from my knee and covers virtually the whole of my shin bone and it has tracked past my knee up to about halfway up my thigh.

I've never experienced such pain from a bite (and believe me, I've had some nasty mosquito bites in the past).
Anyway, now on a week's worth of Flucloxacillin as well as having to take Clarityn, Ibuprofen and rub Germolene on regularly... great way to start next week's holiday!!

One last thing, the doctor who I saw said that there were an awful lot of insect bite patients at the moment.