When looking for a mate, flies will gather around a noticeable landmark such as a bush or under a tree. When indoors this is commonly under a lampshade or equivalent. Potential mates will head towards this landmark looking for candidates. Since flies are poor at hovering they will circle around the area.
The lesser house fly or little house fly, Fannia canicularis, is somewhat smaller (3.5–6 mm (0.14–0.24 in)) than the common housefly. It is best known for its habit of entering buildings and flying in jagged patterns in the middle of a room.
Hover flies, often referred to as flower flies or drone flies, ies are beneficial insects that appear in large numbers during the spring and summer. They are often mistaken for bees or wasps and can cause undue fear over possible stings.
Hoverflies do not damage crops: they are not pests. They are beneficial, occurring on many crops. They are important biological control agents. The larvae feed on aphids (Photo 2), which are their main food, but probably they also eat caterpillars, mealybugs and even other hoverfly larvae.
Houseflies LOVE the scent of food, garbage, feces, and other smelly things like your pet's food bowl. They're also attracted to your body if you have a layer of natural oils and salt or dead skin cells built up.
Vinegar and dish soap – Mixing vinegar and dish soap is an effective method of trapping flies. For this method to work, you need to mix about an inch of apple cider vinegar and a few drops of dish soap in a tall glass. After that, cover the glass with plastic and then poke small holes in the top.
If you find cluster flies in your attic, try to prevent these pests by using a 'Citronella' fragrance wick that emits a smell into this area, which can work to deter these flies from returning. Alternatively, you can spray these insects with fly killer and vacuum the area afterwards.
What Causes Cluster Flies in the House? Cluster flies are attracted to light, which explains their fixation with windows on sunny days. They are also attracted to artificial lights at night. These flies are not attracted to garbage and other refuse like so many other types of filth flies.
Cinnamon – use cinnamon as an air freshner, as flies hate the smell! Lavender, eucalyptus, peppermint and lemongrass essential oils – Not only will spraying these oils around the house create a beautiful aroma, but they will also deter those pesky flies too.
Flies hate the smell of essential oils like lemon grass, peppermint, lavender and eucalyptus – put a few drops in a spray bottle and use around the house daily. They also hate the smell of camphor (a traditional moth deterrent) which you can buy online, cloves and cinnamon.
Door Traffic
One of the main reasons flies are getting into your home when the windows are closed is because you may have a lot of door traffic. If you and other people consistently go in and out of a door, this is prime time for flies to enter your home.
The pests get inside for a number of reasons, but most enter to feed on trash, ripe produce, or moisture. Residents who know what attracts flies will have better luck with prevention.
Although mosquitoes and other blood-feeding insects are attracted to the carbon dioxide we exhale, we know the insect sensory system also helps find exposed skin. Since the skin near our faces is often exposed, that's one reason flies are always buzzing around your face and hands.
The circadian regulation is responsible for the change in sleep propensity that is tied to the time of day, with obvious adaptive advantages. Flies are diurnal animals and sleep mainly at night, even when kept in constant darkness (Shaw et al. 2000).
Cluster flies that have made their way into your house in the fall to pass the winter will remain hidden and only emerge on warm, sunny winter days to try to get outside through your windows. They will eventually leave when temperatures begin to rise but they never completely disappear if left alone.
If you're going through yet another year of dealing with a cluster fly swarm, it might seem like it's impossible to get rid of them for good. Luckily, that's not the case – with a bit of persistence and knowledge, you can permanently evict these pests from your home!
Indoors, use D-Fense Dust and Pyrid Aerosol. D-Fense Dust will be applied to cracks, crevices and voids while Pyrid will knockdown visible Cluster Flies as a space spray. Outdoors, use Supreme I/T insecticide to create a barrier around your structure.
Entry. Entering living spaces by way of electrical outlets or baseboards, the pests take shelter in attics and walls to hibernate, awaiting the arrival of warmer spring weather. On sunny winter days, the wall voids may become warm and the cluster flies will try to move toward light.
Flies usually find moisture around garbage or another source of food. Keep garbage cans sealed whenever you aren't using them. Take out all your garbage every night before bed. Rinse out and dry containers before disposing of them.
Does Vinegar, Dish Soap, Essential Oils Repel Flies? Vinegar attracts, not repels flies; however, a container with vinegar and dish soap will function as an attractant trap as the vinegar lures flies to enter the trap and the dish soap will cause the flies to sink and die.
Vinegar (or acetic acid) is the ultimate product of the fermentation process in fruit, which is why fruit flies are attracted to vinegar odor. However, both low and high concentrations of vinegar odor leave flies indifferent (left).
Phototaxis an attraction to light
Certain insects, such as cockroaches or earthworms, have negative phototaxis, meaning they are repelled by an exposure to light. Moths, flies and many other flying insects have positive phototaxis and are naturally attracted to it.