Its a mild Autumn afternoon and your sat enjoying a pint of your favorite tipple whilst basking in the last of the watery sunshine. You gaze up at the old white walled pub and see what look like a swarm of Blue-Bottles also sun bathing, but no, you’ve been fooled. They are not Blue-Bottles, they are in fact the mysterious Cluster Fly, sometimes also referred to as Autumn Fly.

The Cluster Fly (Sunday name – pollenia rudis). is seasonal “pest”. This is because it spends most of its life outside in the countryside bothering nobody except earthworms, and boy do they bother earthworms. They only really become a “pest” to us when they enter our homes and workplace in large numbers around September – November to “over-winter” until spring time. The problems arise due to the very large number of flies that invade our space. They swarm sluggishly around attics, ceiling voids and top floors. Whilst they carry little disease threat they are really more of a nuisance due to they’re numbers.

In Springtime the fly will leave its wintertime home and fly back into the countryside where it will lay eggs in the soil. (Now for the gory bit!!). The eggs hatch into a Larvae (maggot) and they dig through the soil until they come across an unsuspecting Earthworm. The Larvae then burrows into the Earthworm and proceeds to eat it alive!!! When fully fed it will pupate and the develop into the adult fly that will then fly off into the Autumn sunshine to start the cycle and invasion of your home / workplace all over again. (and yes this does happen, here at Pest Solutions we have found that these insects tend to be active in the 

same areas year after year, and indeed infest the very same buildings year after year).

It is virtually impossible to proof or seal a building against cluster fly entry due to the size of the insect. The only means of control is though treatment with an insecticide

If you are suffering with Cluster Fly and need help. Give us a call on 01942 872137 or email here