I woke up to over 20 black flies flying by the window in my kitchen and about 5 in my bedroom. I killed most of them and then cleaned quite a bit. I found about 7 dead maggot rolly pollie looking fetus(?) around the perimeter between the kitchen and the bedroom. At first I assumed the flies were breeding in the dead plant (i threw it away) but now I'm wondering why these maggots are along the perimeter. Im guessing they were dead bc of an extermination that happened about a month ago and they didn't survive? There is a vacuum cleaner and dust buster leaning between the window and bedroom as well as a heat vent. This leaves me too many options to wonder so Im asking. It has been 24 hours and I have killed 7 more flies. Some of them are flying in my bedroom. Where are they coming from and how do i get rid of them? Ive been hunting my apartment for any clues and thrown away anything that I can think of including the dust buster!
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You probably don't mean black flies, which have a very specific feeding season in late spring and aren't generally found indoors. You probably have houseflies?– HankCommented Aug 20, 2015 at 20:29
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1Check the fireplace. This happened to me once when a squirrel did a dry dive down my chimney. After some decay, a host of flies came out of the fireplace. Quite lovely.– Daniel GriscomCommented Aug 20, 2015 at 21:29
3 Answers
Time to look into every nook and cranny. Pull the fridge out, check all cupboards, clean under all furniture. Location can be anywhere were there is a food source, which can be just about anywhere food or organic material can fall/kicked under/forgotten about.
Start with the obvious locations first; in/around trashcans, pantries, fruit/vegetable storage, fridge and cooking areas. If you have pets, check any area where they could possibly get and leave a mess (under/behind furniture).
Also they have a life cycle that is anywhere from 1 week to 4 weeks. If you kill the first wave, keep up looking/cleaning as the second wave can still be in the process of maturing.
I , just this past week, had the exact same problem, but it occurred in my kitchen. At first 1 or 2 and than it seemed like a scene from The Amityville Horror movie. I finally discovered that my recycling container next to the sink was responsible. I still get occasional invaders.And as already mentioned I did a meticulous search for any decomposed food products that may have inadvertantly rolled out of sight. I used Windex to stun them and than vacuum them up.
Are the flies larger than the normal house fly and are they grey and black? If yes, there might have been and animal which died in the attic, between floors, or in a wall last week. Post a photo of one of the flies so it can be identified. If I am correct, the flies will be gone in about two weeks. If your structure has animal entry points and has not been corrected, problem will return in the future.
