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swarms of small black flies hovering all over my lawn

nicholas.pipernicholas.piper Posts: 2
edited April 2020 in Problem solving
Hi All - first thing this morning I had no flies however mid morning swarms of hundreds of small black flies we hovering a few inches above the lawn. Quite a few of them landed and stuck on the surface water of my daughters paddling pool but 99% continue to hover all over the lawn. Please can anyone advise on what they are and perhaps suitable lawn treatment?? I have noticed that they avoid shaded areas of lawn but just stick to sunlight area's of lawn - very odd indeed.

Posts

  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,585
    Hello Nicholas,
    They could be something called Frit flies. I've heard of them but never seen them.
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    There's been a few different fly hatches here too, hard to say what yours are without a photo sorry. Best treatment is to sip a nice cup of tea while admiring the healthy ecosystem at work. :)
    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Don’t worry ... they’ll fly off soon ... they won’t do any harm, which is something we can’t say about insecticide eh? 

     Don’t want to go using stuff like that if you’ve little ones using the garden 😊 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • nicholas.pipernicholas.piper Posts: 2
    Thanks for the thoughts guys. I like the sound of having a cup of tea and doing nothing but my neighbour seems to think they could be fruit fly /gnats which may explain patches in the lawn. Unfortunately I'm not sure how to treat!!?? 
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    edited April 2020
    Attracting birds, frogs, roads etc to your garden will help nature to keep in balance 😊 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • WilderbeastWilderbeast Posts: 1,415
    @Dovefromabove I'm sure attracting roads won't help nature at all 🤣🤣🤣
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Oh bu**er 🙄 flippin autocorrect seems not to allow for my constant references to wildlife ... 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • WilderbeastWilderbeast Posts: 1,415
    @Dovefromabove I'm sure attracting roads won't help nature at all 🤣🤣🤣
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    @Wilderbeast- but it does cause hiccups..... :D
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
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