Fly infestation in December?

[SewFloralRose]

Hi Funsters
We would like to know if anyone else has experienced a fly infestation in the winter on their Motorhome?
We had a long weekend in Henley on Thames early October, no issues. The Motorhome had had a roof repair in the summer, all good, (repair due to another story of hitting a low Petroleum Station Canopy!). The Motorhome had to go back to the dealer to have Diamondbrite treatment reapplied on the roof. We collected it late November. (Took a week). We store at a farm house 10 mins away because although we have a large enough driveway, we live on a new estate and are not allowed to store a large vehicle there. Since returning from the Diamondbrite treatment to the roof, every time we go in the Motorhome there are more flies, dead and alive! We get rid of them, but more seem to appear? We have checked all the roof lights from inside and they are fully closed, although it does seem that some are getting in with the one in the bathroom? Or it could just be coincidence as we are not entirely sure how they are still in here? We are away for a long weekend again and it’s driving us mad.
Our Motorhome is a 2019 Autotrail Imala 615. (We bought it in April this year, so new to us). The flies have many hiding places in cracks above cupboards etc, so it’s difficult to know if some are hiding/laying eggs/or otherwise as we can’t see into these areas.
Any advice as to how to totally eliminate these pesky flies?

 

[Janine]

They may be cluster flies. I had an infestation in my house this time last year.

 

[ivorantony]

Or a dead mouse somewhere out of sight, especially if been parked up on a farm,

 

[DavidG58]

Prime suspect must be something died somewhere, but I would expect some smell as well as flies

 

[TrudeandDall]

They may be cluster flies. I had an infestation in my house this time last year.

Cluster flies hatch in late Autumn then head for any convient place where they cluster together for a while. They love the velux window on our house roof and would get into the front and sliding doors rubber space on the T4 campervan, if it was not being used much.
So you could very well have cluster flies in your van .......

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[DT]

They get in my driver and passenger door gaps, pain in the but. At home our house is built on a brownfield site and we get them in the loft. I turn on our UV fly killer in November and after two weeks all dead.

 

[gus-lopez]

Any advice as to how to totally eliminate these pesky flies?

Empty half a can of fly spray in the van daily.

and would get into the front and sliding doors rubber space on the T4 campervan,

They get in my driver and passenger door gaps,

Yes our friends in Devon the flies get in the door openings all around on both sides.
When I have been there at this time of the year then every day before opening the doors I spray all around the door gaps both sides & rear & side.

 

[Simon Meadwell]

I was swarmed by cluster flies last week when stripping out an old roof light so they are around this time of year.

 

[Minxy]

As they used to say on Taggart ... "There's been a murder!" ... you've got to try to find the corpse!

 

[The Wino]

I'd hang up an old fashioned fly papers it would remove them without trying to find the ones killed off by the fly spray and hopefully get any new arrivals. As others have said also check for dead rodents and remove any food at all from the motorhome

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[KNWH]

We’ve had them on occasions. Trying to get them with a fly swat is tricky as they hide in the crevices and corners.
A vacuum cleaner with a thin nozzle is very effective and satisfying

 

[Minxy]

I'd hang up an old fashioned fly papers it would remove them without trying to find the ones killed off by the fly spray and hopefully get any new arrivals. As others have said also check for dead rodents and remove any food at all from the motorhome

We had to use fly paper this year as there were that many flipping flies ... just make sure you put it somewhere out of the way otherwise things could get 'sticky' especially when you catch something much bigger than a fly like my hubby!

 

[Westbarn1]

As above, likely to be cluster flies.

 

[Just smiffy]

100%cluster flies, they warm up when you use the van… normally associated with farm buildings but as there’s not many barns these day anything will do…

 

[Purrfecttune]

Had them in the gap between the bedroom window and frame, dozens of them.
After repeatedly sweeping them out over a couple of days I sprayed the gap with a liberal amount of fly spray- end of problem.

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[Margsmit]

Hi Funsters
We would like to know if anyone else has experienced a fly infestation in the winter on their Motorhome?
We had a long weekend in Henley on Thames early October, no issues. The Motorhome had had a roof repair in the summer, all good, (repair due to another story of hitting a low Petroleum Station Canopy!). The Motorhome had to go back to the dealer to have Diamondbrite treatment reapplied on the roof. We collected it late November. (Took a week). We store at a farm house 10 mins away because although we have a large enough driveway, we live on a new estate and are not allowed to store a large vehicle there. Since returning from the Diamondbrite treatment to the roof, every time we go in the Motorhome there are more flies, dead and alive! We get rid of them, but more seem to appear? We have checked all the roof lights from inside and they are fully closed, although it does seem that some are getting in with the one in the bathroom? Or it could just be coincidence as we are not entirely sure how they are still in here? We are away for a long weekend again and it’s driving us mad.
Our Motorhome is a 2019 Autotrail Imala 615. (We bought it in April this year, so new to us). The flies have many hiding places in cracks above cupboards etc, so it’s difficult to know if some are hiding/laying eggs/or otherwise as we can’t see into these areas.
Any advice as to how to totally eliminate these pesky flies?

Very likely cluster flies. I have had them in the house and until treated returned every year. I used a local infestation person to rid them with a type of smoke bomb. You can buy them but for safety I used an expert.

 

[gvj]

Definitely cluster flies - harmless but annoying- they lay their eggs in meadows and parasite on earth worms in their youth. They will keep coming back each autumn so long as your van’s in a rural location. They are not interested in old food or dead bodies- just looking for somewhere to overwinter.

 

[WonkyBass]

Cluster files also like to shelter in a Truma exhaust. Live ones will fly out when the boiler fires up. I cover my outlet in winter when not in use.

I believe cluster flies and other insects locate places to shelter using pheromones scent. I had some success discouraging insects using a bicarbonate of soda paste to neutralise the scent in the cab door gap. It lasts for a while before I need to reapply.

 

[SpeedyDux]

Very likely cluster flies. I have had them in the house and until treated returned every year. I used a local infestation person to rid them with a type of smoke bomb. You can buy them but for safety I used an expert.

I would try one of those electric plug-in mozzy killer vapour gadgets. Used to take one on package holidays. Clears a room effectively. Afterwards, ventilate.

 

[discokid]

We get the pesky varmints every autumn outside the same rear windows of our house where they cluster in the gap between the window and the window frame. Every year I tried liberal squirts of fly spray and a wash down spray of diluted Jeyes fluid. It was effective for about two days! Finally, this year I used Pest Control Formula C+ in a garden sprayer and gave the window frames a thorough spray on the outside and into all the nooks and crannies in the soffits. Worked a treat with instant results. Corpses everywhere! That was eight weeks ago and they haven't returned (although I gather they do return to the same locations every autumn). For good measure I used Pest Control P+ power fogger in the loft just in case although there was no evidence of them in the loft. The fogger is easy to use and ideal for a MoHo interior I would think. The products aren't cheap but from a 5L carton which you dilute I only used about 1.5L and the fogger comes in packs of four and I used one. So initial cost is relatively high but I have enough left for a few years should the need arise. More importantly I've found the product really effective in getting rid of these cluster flies (they look like fruit flies in appearance?). Best of luck!

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[TrudeandDall]

We get the pesky varmints every autumn outside the same rear windows of our house where they cluster in the gap between the window and the window frame. Every year I tried liberal squirts of fly spray and a wash down spray of diluted Jeyes fluid. It was effective for about two days! Finally, this year I used Pest Control Formula C+ in a garden sprayer and gave the window frames a thorough spray on the outside and into all the nooks and crannies in the soffits. Worked a treat with instant results. Corpses everywhere! That was eight weeks ago and they haven't returned (although I gather they do return to the same locations every autumn). For good measure I used Pest Control P+ power fogger in the loft just in case although there was no evidence of them in the loft. The fogger is easy to use and ideal for a MoHo interior I would think. The products aren't cheap but from a 5L carton which you dilute I only used about 1.5L and the fogger comes in packs of four and I used one. So initial cost is relatively high but I have enough left for a few years should the need arise. More importantly I've found the product really effective in getting rid of these cluster flies (they look like fruit flies in appearance?). Best of luck!

I use the same Formula C+ in the Velux widow frame. No messing - total anhilation and the bu****s that follow are despatched with the residue from the first spray! All that is left is to hoover up the dead ones. Job done!

 

[Ianbenny]

We had them in October at Teesdale CMC site. They were clustered on the side of the van in the sun and on the side of the toilet block. Thousands of them. Then they started coming in one by one. I went to open the drivers door, they were all in there, hundreds and lots got in van and down behind the dash and windscreen,

The only thing we had was a frying pan spatula to try and swat them and a spray of diluted Solbio for the toilet , which did the job. Took about an hour to get them.

 

[Anneg]

Just to add that very very likely to be cluster flies. Live in rural Pembrokshire. We did have a 350 year old Pembrokeshire long house that had several outbuildings. One especially seemed to be attractive to cluster flies - we put chemical stickers on the windows, that killed the flies when they walked over them and they dropped to the floor and then we just swept them up. Then they banned some of the chemicals, but you can still find some butterfly shaped stickers on Amazon. Having moved - but to still a remote place in Pembrokeshire, we still get them in the loft in our new place. They do no harm, and don't pass on disease. They come in for the warmth around October, and then leave around April. They actually breed in the ground. You can buy smoke bombs to set off in the loft or a room - though I think you need to then close everything up for 4 hrs before entering the area, We've not had to do that so far. I had to go up into the loft a few days ago. There were several clusters of them up there on the rafters, but not flying around so I just left them. Over the years, (only been here 2 winters) I think people have used sprays to kill them, but that just means they fall onto the fibre glass insulation, and it's impossible to vaccuum them up as they just stick to it, so we've had to leave them.

 

[DavidG58]

I am 66 next and never heard of cluster flies

Every days a school day

 

[bigwood]

I don’t know what they are but we have little black flying things in the bathroom and kitchen. We are wondering if there’s any connection to a plant that’s in both rooms. Apparently it’s supposed to be suitable for bathrooms. Personally it’s a green leafy thing that should be in the garden.

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[The Wino]

I don’t know what they are but we have little black flying things in the bathroom and kitchen. We are wondering if there’s any connection to a plant that’s in both rooms. Apparently it’s supposed to be suitable for bathrooms. Personally it’s a green leafy thing that should be in the garden.

I think they're most likely fungus gnats ( scarid flies). We have a problem with them from time to time they live if the top bit of compost around house plants. We have yellow sticky things in all the pots now to get most of them as they emerge.

 

[seasideBill]

Good news is they don’t spend their time laying eggs on dead animals and dog turds etc so pose no danger to humans. In my boating days I used to get huge swarms of them if I left the sails furled over winter. They love the same places as hibernating queen wasps so keep an eye out for them come spring time.

 

[DavidG58]

What are cluster flies and how do you get rid of a cluster fly infestation? | Pest Defence

Are you dealing with cluster flies in your house? Find out more about them and how to prevent and get rid of them.

www.pestdefence.co.uk

It would appear that the ‘flies’ we often get in the house are probably cluster flies who would have known, always called them flies up to now

 

[SewFloralRose]

We found a great and simple non chemical solution. We bought some organic peppermint and lavender essential oils. Wiped the cupboards with it, put some drops on the soft furnishings and some on cotton wool which we poked above cupboards and screens. Not only have they all gone and not returned, dead ones swept up, but our van smells lovely. I have read that they hate these two essences and that rodents do too, so it can prevent any mice etc if you store your van in a rural area.