These oversized swarming black flies are not ordinary house flies. They generally stay in secluded areas until warm weather begins. Cluster flies drop your house by finding a passage through cracks and openings. The Spruce / Catherine Song The following tips will help you identify and learn how to eliminate cluster flies in your home. Cluster Flies What Do Cluster Flies Look Like? The cluster fly can be distinguished from thehouse flyin several ways:...

Thankfully, it’s easy to remove cooking smells with simple methods at home. Useceiling fans,portable fans, orair purifiersto remove odors and improve indoor air quality. Tip Air out as much of the cooking smell as you might before using diffusers. AnnaStills / Getty Images This helps to avoid a clash of odors and provides fresh air for the new scent to disperse. Some popular options include lemon rinds, apple slices, cranberries, cinnamon sticks, cloves, and lavender....

Native to Europe, it was introduced to North America in the 1800s as an ornamental and medicinal plant. Now, it has proliferated into a hard-to-killlawn weedthat can choke grass and ornamental plants. This makes it capable of escaping wherever it’s planted, even in a container. The Spruce Here’s how to get rid of creeping Charlie plants. The Spruce What Is Creeping Charlie? This ground-hugging plant is an aromatic evergreen and a close relative ofmint....

Ditch the kennel smell with these 8 tips. While we love our furry friends, theres no denying thatpets can cause odorsin your home. If you’re hoping to discover how to get dog smell out of the house, read on. The Spruce / Kristie Lee A general rule is the more hair your dog has, the more frequently theyll need to be bathed. Wash your pets beddingfrequentlyabout every four to six weeks....

What Do Earwigs Look Like? Earwigs are long, flat, and wriggly little creepy-crawlies with six legs. What Are Cerci? The Spruce / Katie Kerpel Cerci are the pincers on an earwig’s abdomen. Earwigs use cerci in various ways, including hunting, defense, and courting. Flying earwigs also use their cerci to assist in folding and unfolding their wings. Mike Hurricane Holmes / Getty Images Avoid these treatments for earwigs and try something else....

Learn what attracts flies and how to defeat and prevent an infestation. This insect can be up to 3/8 inch long with bulging reddish eyes. Less commonly, we may findcluster flies(Polleniaspp.) The Spruce / Madelyn Goodnight or horse flies (Tabanusspp.) Tinyfruit flies(Drosophila melanogaster)are another common pest found in the home. In addition to its ability to annoy, the common housefly can transmit diseases. The Spruce / K. Dave The life cycle of the common housefly is as simple as it is rapid....

Keep annoying flies away with these effective tricks. House flies andcluster fliesare common occurrences inside and outside your home. Look at compost, drains, and garbage cans to find the maggots. The Spruce / Michela Buttignol Here are a few of the common types of flies that you’ll encounter. What Causes Flies? To get rid of flies in your home, identify what attracts them and eliminate the source. The Spruce / Ulyana Verbytska...

Learn how to get rid of flies outside, plus tips to prevent infestations in the future. Look for other signs that might point to flies outside your home: Want more cleaning and organizing tips? Encourage Natural Predators Many birds and most bats feed heavily on flying insects, including houseflies. The Spruce Birds also eat maggots and fly larvae, offering preventative control. Replace fly paper regularly to remove insect waste and keep the scent strong....

What Are Grain-Based Items? It’s easy to bring flour mites into your home without knowing. So, how do you avoid them and what should you do if they’re already in your kitchen? The Spruce / Mira Norian Tomasz Klejdysz/iStock/GettyImages What Do Flour Mites Look Like? Their clawed legs are darker than their bodies which vary in color from yellow to brown-red. Tips If you see fine dust moving on your countertops, it’s probably flour mites....

How do you get rid of them ASAP? How can you tell them apart? Here are a few simple and all-natural steps to make your bathroom fly-free. The Spruce /Candra Huff Getting rid of fruit flies in the kitchen stops them from entering the bathroom. In your kitchen drains, fruit flies are attracted to food scum and rotting organic material. Drain flies feed on slime and scum, laying their eggs, reproducing quickly, and being generally annoying....

Learn how to identify, remove, and prevent a fruit fly infestation from taking over your home. What Causes a Fruit Fly Infestation in the House? Overripe fruit, rotting food, and fermentation can all cause a fruit fly infestation. The Spruce / Cristina Tudor Even kitchen drain scum can provide them with sustenance, so don’t rule anything out. Under ideal conditions, they can live up to 50 days. Aside from their physical appearance, observe their habits....

These pests are attracted to the damp soil of potted houseplants. They need moist soil to lay their eggs, and theorganic matterin the dirt feeds their larvae. Fungus gnats do not bite people or pets. The Spruce / Bailey Mariner Larval root damage commonly causes wilting, among other problems. Often, overwatered indoor plants attract gnats. Read on to find more ways toget rid of gnatsin plants naturally. The Spruce / Phoebe Cheong...

Canada geese sometimes migrate south for the winter. In all such environments, they may be regarded as pests, mainly because of their excrement. If you have a geese problem, read on for ways to keep them at bay. The Spruce / Mira Norian Scare Geese Away With Visual Deterrents The coyote is a natural predator that Canada geese fear. Take advantage of this fact and buy a coyote decoy to deploy on the lawn....