The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Smallholding => Pests and diseases => Topic started by: arobwk on June 16, 2020, 07:14:32 pm
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Despite a horsey childhood, I really don't know what a horse fly looks like. However, there have been some odd looking flies around my stores area recently: even odder is fact that they seem to prefer alighting onto the sides of my ISO containers head-down AND a number have seemed to be intent on perching on my bare arms. Thinking about, I wonder whether these are horse flies: web searches proffer a whole load of different looking horse flies so that hasn't helped me although there has been some with similar looks to my mystery fly.
Looking into the horse fly life-cycle I found this ... "The larvae, which are scattered in the soil, cannot be eradicated. Insecticides cannot effectively control the adult flies, flying around, either. Adult horse flies can be trapped in traps, which consist of a rather large, dark object, which can be seen and is heated by the sun. Carbon dioxide (from dry ice) may increase the attractiveness of the trap. The horse-flies that are attracted, are trapped in a trap or in an adhesive that is placed in the trap. If strategically positioned, the trap can help the problem for grazing cattle. As mentioned, horse flies which have strayed indoors – do not bite, but can be controlled with a fly spray with pyrethrin, if you do not just let them out of the windows."
Umm - not sure I'm any better informed !!
As a starter, can anyone offer a reliable image of a Horse Fly in the UK ?
[Typeface AND font size issues again in the above - can't be bothered to correct.]
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If you Google it, fifth row down third in from the left is the typical one that bites me, aaargh, bloody things. Swells up in no time. Some people not affected by the bite, but me.
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https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse-fly (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse-fly)
:innocent:
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If you haven't been bitten on your bare arms, you haven't got horse flies ;)
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Dunno - I'll try catch a photo sometime soon of "mine".
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Round here we call them cleggs and they are evil, vicious brutes.
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I would agree with Sally, they bite quite quickly if they get on your skin. And its a sharp bite, you don't miss it. I had one bite me once on the bum through sports leggings on a bike ride - hurt like hell that one!
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I looked these up, just out of curiosity, because sometimes 'my bites' turn bad, apparently they cut into your skin, rather than bite, that's how we get the infection in, advice was to wash asap.
Which I did after Saturdays bite, and it's still itching, but not full blown swelling.