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:
Want more cleaning and organizing tips?
The Spruce / Nelly Cuanalo
What Causes Cluster Flies?
They enter homes and other warm buildings as fall turns cold to survive the winter.
They prefer plant nectar as their food of choice and lay eggs in the soil near earthworm burrows.
The Spruce / Nelly Cuanalo
This method is a more natural way to get rid of cluster flies.
verify to empty the jar regularly.
Read labels carefully, as some products include additional ingredients with differing toxicity levels.
The Spruce / Nelly Cuanalo
The west and south sides of a building are where cluster flies most often enter.
Seal gaps around exterior vents, rooflines, water spigots, pipe entries, and foundation sill plates.
This is usually a job for a professional exterminator.
Compared to a housefly, which flies much of the time, cluster flies are relatively sluggish.
Cluster flies are most likely to appear in the early spring.
On the other hand, houseflies reach their peak of indoor activity during the warmest part of summer.
Cluster flies are not known to carry disease.
Cluster flies are a longer-living species, with adults living as long as two years under ideal circumstances.
Cluster flies do not damage the structure of homes.
Instead, they leave behind a poop trail, and their carcasses become a mess that needs cleaning.
Cluster Flies.Penn State Extension.
Cluster Fly.Plant & Pest Diagnostics, Michigan State University.
The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station.
Pyrethrins General Fact Sheet.National Pesticide Information Center, Oregon State University Extension Services.
