They're black and smaller than house flies. We're getting a lot in the
garden, they seem to fly/hover aimlessly underneath the washing on the line
(like gnats), but never seem to land on anything.

Same indoors, they congregate in the middle of the room, sometimes a dozen
or two, just moving around underneath the ceiling fan, never seeming to land
on anything. They're coming in through an open door (although an almost
full-lenght curtain is across it, the breeze lifts it at times and we
seriously need the fresh air)

I'll try and get a photo later on, but does anyone have any ideas what they
are, and how to get rid of them? I'm getting tired zapping them with my
electronic fly-swat

"Mentalguy2k8" wrote in message
news:5K_Wn.94783$w51.88115@hurricane...
They're black and smaller than house flies. We're getting a lot in the
garden, they seem to fly/hover aimlessly underneath the washing on the
line (like gnats), but never seem to land on anything.

Same indoors, they congregate in the middle of the room, sometimes a dozen
or two, just moving around underneath the ceiling fan, never seeming to
land on anything. They're coming in through an open door (although an
almost full-lenght curtain is across it, the breeze lifts it at times and
we seriously need the fresh air)

I'll try and get a photo later on, but does anyone have any ideas what
they are, and how to get rid of them? I'm getting tired zapping them with
my electronic fly-swat

Here's two that I zapped earlier:

http://tinypic.com/r/33mbr75/6

"AriesVal" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 1 Jul 2010 12:12:01 +0100, Mentalguy2k8 wrote:

They're black and smaller than house flies. We're getting a lot in the
garden, they seem to fly/hover aimlessly underneath the washing on the
line
(like gnats), but never seem to land on anything.

Same indoors, they congregate in the middle of the room, sometimes a
dozen
or two, just moving around underneath the ceiling fan, never seeming to
land
on anything. They're coming in through an open door (although an almost
full-lenght curtain is across it, the breeze lifts it at times and we
seriously need the fresh air)

I'll try and get a photo later on, but does anyone have any ideas what
they
are, and how to get rid of them? I'm getting tired zapping them with my
electronic fly-swat

Window screens are the answer, well that is what my American friends keep
telling me!

It's an option, but they are annoying in the garden, too. They seem to like
hovering at around head-height along the path underneath the washing line,
but I'm wondering where they are coming from and what they eat... as I said
before, they never seem to land on anything like house flies do. There is a
"cloud" of anything between 1 and 2 dozen in the garden and around 10
indoors... but no matter how many I kill, there always seems to be the same
number inside and out!

"Mentalguy2k8" wrote in message
news:U0%Wn.94934$w51.78961@hurricane...

Here's two that I zapped earlier:

http://tinypic.com/r/33mbr75/6


That's a new 5p piece for scale

"Mentalguy2k8" wrote in message
news:5K_Wn.94783$w51.88115@hurricane...
They're black and smaller than house flies. We're getting a lot in the
garden, they seem to fly/hover aimlessly underneath the washing on the
line (like gnats), but never seem to land on anything.

Same indoors, they congregate in the middle of the room, sometimes a dozen
or two, just moving around underneath the ceiling fan, never seeming to
land on anything. They're coming in through an open door (although an
almost full-lenght curtain is across it, the breeze lifts it at times and
we seriously need the fresh air)

I'll try and get a photo later on, but does anyone have any ideas what
they are, and how to get rid of them? I'm getting tired zapping them with
my electronic fly-swat

Possibly fruit flies (but all flies look the same to me). Check out your
compost heap - they often breed there where left-over fruit has been thrown
away.

Mentalguy2k8 wrote:
Here's two that I zapped earlier:

http://tinypic.com/r/33mbr75/6

What coin is that? Can't tell if it's a 5p or 1p

On Thu, 1 Jul 2010 12:49:01 +0100, "Ragnar" wrote:


"Mentalguy2k8" wrote in message
news:5K_Wn.94783$w51.88115@hurricane...
They're black and smaller than house flies. We're getting a lot in the
garden, they seem to fly/hover aimlessly underneath the washing on the
line (like gnats), but never seem to land on anything.

Same indoors, they congregate in the middle of the room, sometimes a dozen
or two, just moving around underneath the ceiling fan, never seeming to
land on anything. They're coming in through an open door (although an
almost full-lenght curtain is across it, the breeze lifts it at times and
we seriously need the fresh air)

I'll try and get a photo later on, but does anyone have any ideas what
they are, and how to get rid of them? I'm getting tired zapping them with
my electronic fly-swat

Possibly fruit flies (but all flies look the same to me). Check out your
compost heap - they often breed there where left-over fruit has been thrown
away.

Offer them a banana.

(Fruit flies like a banana)



--
(¯`·. ®óñ© © ²°¹° .·´¯)

On Thu, 01 Jul 2010 12:12:01 +0100, Mentalguy2k8 wrote:

They're black and smaller than house flies.

Probably thrips a.k.a thunderflies, from your description of their
behaviour.

wrote in message
...
Mentalguy2k8 wrote:
Here's two that I zapped earlier:

http://tinypic.com/r/33mbr75/6

What coin is that? Can't tell if it's a 5p or 1p

That's the 5p

On Thu, 1 Jul 2010 12:32:02 +0100, "Mentalguy2k8"
wrote:


"Mentalguy2k8" wrote in message
news:5K_Wn.94783$w51.88115@hurricane...
They're black and smaller than house flies. We're getting a lot in the
garden, they seem to fly/hover aimlessly underneath the washing on the
line (like gnats), but never seem to land on anything.

Same indoors, they congregate in the middle of the room, sometimes a dozen
or two, just moving around underneath the ceiling fan, never seeming to
land on anything. They're coming in through an open door (although an
almost full-lenght curtain is across it, the breeze lifts it at times and
we seriously need the fresh air)

I'll try and get a photo later on, but does anyone have any ideas what
they are, and how to get rid of them? I'm getting tired zapping them with
my electronic fly-swat

Here's two that I zapped earlier:

http://tinypic.com/r/33mbr75/6
OMG run their highly dangerous and will kill you if they bite you.




They are just harmless hoverflies.

"Derek Turner" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 01 Jul 2010 12:12:01 +0100, Mentalguy2k8 wrote:

They're black and smaller than house flies.

Probably thrips a.k.a thunderflies, from your description of their
behaviour.


I looked those up, and it's not them. The ones I have are like "normal"
flies that you get in the house and on dog poo (the big blue/green ones that
buzz), except they are quite a bit smaller and don't land on anything, don't
seem interested in people or food. They are hanging around in seemingly
pointless groups like gnats do. If they landed on something I might be able
to work out what they're feeding on, but all they do is hover and jerk
around within the space of about a square yard. I can't see where they're
coming from or where they're going. All I know is that for every dozen I
kill, they're calling for backup and are back up to full strength within
minutes. But if I don't kill them, I still have the same number, it's not
like they're continually arriving, they just seem to reach a certain number
and maintain it.

Have tried spraying citronella on the door frames, curtains etc., but it
doesn't seem to bother them.

"meme" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 1 Jul 2010 12:32:02 +0100, "Mentalguy2k8"
wrote:


"Mentalguy2k8" wrote in message
news:5K_Wn.94783$w51.88115@hurricane...
They're black and smaller than house flies. We're getting a lot in the
garden, they seem to fly/hover aimlessly underneath the washing on the
line (like gnats), but never seem to land on anything.

Same indoors, they congregate in the middle of the room, sometimes a
dozen
or two, just moving around underneath the ceiling fan, never seeming to
land on anything. They're coming in through an open door (although an
almost full-lenght curtain is across it, the breeze lifts it at times
and
we seriously need the fresh air)

I'll try and get a photo later on, but does anyone have any ideas what
they are, and how to get rid of them? I'm getting tired zapping them
with
my electronic fly-swat

Here's two that I zapped earlier:

http://tinypic.com/r/33mbr75/6

OMG run their highly dangerous and will kill you if they bite you.

I wish they would, they're irritating me to death!


They are just harmless hoverflies.

I'm not sure, they look more "wasp-ish" coloured in the pictures than my
little friends do.

"Mentalguy2k8" wrote in message
news:5K_Wn.94783$w51.88115@hurricane...
They're black and smaller than house flies. We're getting a lot in the
garden, they seem to fly/hover aimlessly underneath the washing on the
line (like gnats), but never seem to land on anything.

Same indoors, they congregate in the middle of the room, sometimes a dozen
or two, just moving around underneath the ceiling fan, never seeming to
land on anything. They're coming in through an open door (although an
almost full-lenght curtain is across it, the breeze lifts it at times and
we seriously need the fresh air)


IIRC they are in a mating display - males compete for the females by some
kind of flying antics and so any suitable space for nooky is poulated by the
flies.

If a good place for nooky comes free (e.g. through the previous occupants
being zapped) then more males move in until they have occupied the space
again and are keeping the other males out.

There is a natural maximum density for males and females when this is taking
place.

So either resort to mass chemical assault until there are no more flies in
your neighbourhood, or try and work out what is attracting them.

Indoors, it might be the draught from the ceiling fan.

Outdoors it might be the increased humidity (assuming you have washing on
the line).

Cheers

Dave R
--
No plan survives contact with the enemy.

Helmuth von Moltke the Elder

"David WE Roberts" wrote in message
...

"Mentalguy2k8" wrote in message
news:5K_Wn.94783$w51.88115@hurricane...
They're black and smaller than house flies. We're getting a lot in the
garden, they seem to fly/hover aimlessly underneath the washing on the
line (like gnats), but never seem to land on anything.

Same indoors, they congregate in the middle of the room, sometimes a
dozen or two, just moving around underneath the ceiling fan, never
seeming to land on anything. They're coming in through an open door
(although an almost full-lenght curtain is across it, the breeze lifts it
at times and we seriously need the fresh air)


IIRC they are in a mating display - males compete for the females by some
kind of flying antics and so any suitable space for nooky is poulated by
the flies.

If a good place for nooky comes free (e.g. through the previous occupants
being zapped) then more males move in until they have occupied the space
again and are keeping the other males out.

There is a natural maximum density for males and females when this is
taking place.

So either resort to mass chemical assault until there are no more flies in
your neighbourhood, or try and work out what is attracting them.

Indoors, it might be the draught from the ceiling fan.

Outdoors it might be the increased humidity (assuming you have washing on
the line).

All of that makes perfect sense... the only thing that can be attracting
them to the living room is the fan. There's no food in there, and they don't
go into the kitchen. I don't want to nuke the whole neighbourhood (some of
the people maybe!) but I don't like walking through a cloud of them at
face-height.

On Thu, 1 Jul 2010 13:31:39 +0100, "Mentalguy2k8"
wrote:


"Derek Turner" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 01 Jul 2010 12:12:01 +0100, Mentalguy2k8 wrote:

They're black and smaller than house flies.

Probably thrips a.k.a thunderflies, from your description of their
behaviour.


I looked those up, and it's not them. The ones I have are like "normal"
flies that you get in the house and on dog poo (the big blue/green ones that
buzz), except they are quite a bit smaller and don't land on anything, don't
seem interested in people or food. They are hanging around in seemingly
pointless groups like gnats do. If they landed on something I might be able
to work out what they're feeding on, but all they do is hover and jerk
around within the space of about a square yard. I can't see where they're
coming from or where they're going. All I know is that for every dozen I
kill, they're calling for backup and are back up to full strength within
minutes. But if I don't kill them, I still have the same number, it's not
like they're continually arriving, they just seem to reach a certain number
and maintain it.

Have tried spraying citronella on the door frames, curtains etc., but it
doesn't seem to bother them.

If they don't appear to land or eat anything they are probably one the
predators that eat the even smaller insects that you don't even
notice. Do they occasional make a sudden movement? Sort of jump six
inch.

Steve

--
Neural Planner Software Ltd www.NPSL1.com
EasyNN-plus. Neural Networks plus. www.easynn.com
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