Picture-winged flies are beautiful, but having flies buzzing around your head is never a good thing. Here’s how to get rid of picture-winged fly, and why it may not be necessary to take harsh measures
Dealing with flies swarming around your house can be a big challenge if you don’t know what kind of flies you are dealing with.
These insects are highly attracted to dirty places with an abundance of decaying matter.
If you have spotted flies having clear wings with black-brown or yellow patterns, then you have most probably encountered a picture-winged fly.
These are very common across North America. In this article, we will discuss more how to get rid of them.
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What are Picture Winged Flies?
The Picture-winged flies are known for the bold patterns in their spotted wings. They have an ant-shaped body and can grow from 0.25-0.5 inches in length.
These flies are somewhat similar to fruit flies, flutter flies, signal flies, lance flies, and more.
You can recognize the adult flies by the shiny black-brown wings with slight touches of yellow. These wings can grow up to 0.23 inches in length.
The body is mostly light brown in color with brown to yellowish-brown legs.
Are They Pests?
A picture-winged fly is harmless to humans and pets as they do not bite and cause any damage to your home and the furniture in it.
However, these insects are significant pests of sweet corn in Florida.
Apart from that, they do not cause much of a problem to humans, but the sight of a bunch of these flies gathering around your house can be a little too much to bear.
This is why people might want to take active measures to get rid of them.
However, you must know that these flies play a significant role in keeping the surroundings clean by getting rid of decomposing organic matter effectively.
What Do They Eat?
The larvae of these flies usually consume decaying matter; you can find them swarming around piles of rotting organic material like plant matter, vegetables, and fruits.
Nectar and flowing sap are the main food sources for adult picture-winged flies. Hence you can spot them near flowering gardens.
The larvae also actively consume sweet corn (as mentioned earlier).
Due to their feeding habits, you can spot these flies swarming around moist areas like bottomlands where things usually rot.
What Eats Them?
There are many active predators of the picture-winged flies, including different kinds of birds like phoebes, wrens, flycatchers, tanagers, and more.
Apart from birds, these flies are also hunted down by giant spiders and other predatory insects as well.
When Do They Come Into Homes?
The flies usually live around moist places that promise plenty of decaying matter for them to feed on, but they can also creep into your homes.
Dealing with a bunch of flies buzzing around inside your house is not a pretty sight which is why you need to be a little cautious.
These flies usually enter the homes during the winter season to survive the cold but ironically, adult flies never survive the winter.
In the next section, we will take a look at a few practical ways to keep these insects away from your home.
How To Get Rid of Them?
Since flies love to be around decaying matter, you should always keep your house clean by regularly taking out the trash.
Make sure that you keep the moist area in check, like sink drains, drain pipes, and more.
If the flies have already entered your home, there is no need to use insecticide, as they will eventually die once the surroundings get a little colder.
The flies can also enter through tiny cracks and gaps in your windows, door, or walls.
Therefore a thorough check for these cracks and gaps; if you find some, make sure that you immediately seal them up.
If you continue to have issues call a local pest control company. Hiring a trained professional will help get rid of those pesky flys.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do picture-winged flies live?
Pictured-winged flies usually live in moist areas that are ideal for rotting organic material to exist.
The adult flies also actively consume flower nectar and sap flows, so you can spot them around the flowering garden as well.
During the winter, they can creep into the house to survive the cold.
How do you get rid of Ceroxys Latiusculus flies?
To get rid of these flies, you must make sure that all the cracks and gaps in your house, as the flies can use them as entry points to your house.
They usually enter homes to survive the cold during winter. If you find a few of these flies inside your house, there is no need to use insecticides on them, as they will probably die when the temperature gets a little colder.
How do you get rid of buzzy flies?
These flies are attracted to moist places that have decaying organic matter, like fruits, vegetables, and more. Therefore you must routinely take the trash out of your house.
If a lot of trash gets accumulated at a place, the flies will definitely get attracted to that. You also must clean other moist surfaces in your house, like sink drains, drain pipes, and more, to keep the flies away.
How does vinegar get rid of flies?
Vinegar is a great source to create a trap for flies. Here you fill a big bowl with vinegar and mix it with a small amount of dish-washing soap. The sweet smell of the vinegar will attract flies to investigate the mixture.
Once they fall into the liquid, the dish soap will decrease the surface tension of the mixture, due to which the files will immediately drown without being able to escape.
Wrap Up
The picture-winged flies might be good to look at but the sight of them swarming around your house is not a pretty one.
Moreover, in places like Florida, where their larvae are notorious for eating sweet corn crops, effective measures are necessary to keep them in control.
You can use the tips and tricks mentioned in this article to handle these flies.
Thank you for reading the article.
1 Comment. Leave new
Thanks for your help.
“Breeds is decaying organic matter” isn’t a suprise to me. I’m a homebrewer, meaning I brew beer as a hobby, and keep a pile of spent grain next to my shed. These little guys started showing up right around the time I made the switch to all-grain brewing and started building up the grain pile.