Don’t Let Cluster Flies Invade Your Home This Winter

When the temperature outside is around or below the freezing mark, but the days are bright and sunny, you may often spot a cluster of flies buzzing and hovering around the light sources. With your home heating on, your doors and windows may be shut, but these annoying pests will create a nuisance as they try to squeeze around the edges of the weather-proofed openings. Although they may look like regular house flies at first glance, cluster flies are actually darker, larger, and slower-moving, which makes their buzz and movement more of a nuisance.

Learn More about Cluster Flies and How to Keep Them Out of Your BC Home

About 8mm to 10 mm long, cluster flies enjoy sunning through the warmer months from spring through fall. As winter approaches, they become less active and seek refuge in secluded areas of your home to hibernate through the cooler months. They typically make their way to the wall voids, house siding, eaves, attic, or empty rooms and do not cause a commotion most of the time. However, the infestation in your home is apparent on days when the mercury rises and the sun shines bright. On such days, you will see an entire congregation of flies near your windows and under the light fixtures, thinking that spring has arrived, and they need to find a way to go outside for sunshine. While cluster flies do not carry any diseases, they:

• Create an irritating, buzzing sound, disturbing you in your daily chores
• Stain your walls with their droppings
• Attract other insects such as larder beetles when they die in the crevices of your walls and attic.

Rather than trying to chase these pests out on a cold, winter day, it is better to take preventive measures to keep them from entering your home in the first place. During the fall months, when the temperatures steadily decline, cluster flies start looking for warmer, cozier places to seek refuge before winter sets in. This is the time when you should:

• Make sure that your doors and window screens are fitted and shut properly at all times.
• Check the screens to ensure that they do not have any cracks or holes.
• Weatherstrip the doors and windows and caulk the cracks and gaps in and around the windows and door frames.
• Seal up any other cracks or holes in your building structure, such as the siding behind the chimneys or the area near the utility pipes.
• Install insect screening or mosquito nets over the air vents in soffits.

Combat Pesky Cluster Flies with Professional Pest Control Services

Despite taking necessary precautions to keep cluster flies out, you may end up with a bunch of them who have taken refuge in your premises in Langley, Maple Ridge, Vancouver, Victoria or other parts of the lower mainland BC. While it is possible to tackle them with a simple fly swatter, they may leave behind an unpleasant odour or stain the surfaces when squashed. You can also use store-bought insecticidal aerosol sprays that are effective in killing the exposed flies in your home, but some individuals are allergic to certain sprays, so be careful while using this method.

For a permanent and reliable solution against cluster flies, hire the services of BC’s trusted professional exterminators, Pest Detective. With over 4 decades of experience in this area, we are proud of our ability to keep homes and businesses free of insects, pests, rodents and wildlife.

To schedule a pest control inspection for your home or business, contact us at any time. You can reach our team 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.