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Is there some kind of fly / bug invasion going on last week or so ?

WanderLust

WanderLust

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Has anyone been invaded by a bunch of flies ? These bugs sort of look like fruit flies, but I don't think they are, they just sort of showed up the last few days. I went out on my terrace this afternoon and I swear there were millions of these things. Anyone know what these could be ?
 
These turn up from time to time, summer to summer. Summer of 2010 I had thousands of gnats, aphids or something on the ceiling of my balcony that would come and go throughout the summer. This summer (June to mid-August) I had a different kind but similar that would fly around and get into my face, land in my coffee etc. when I'd sit out and read. They'd also find their way into my apartment but they die within a day or so. People closer to the lake get them even worse.
 
I think I've got the ones you had earlier this summer ... the ones that get into your face and swarm you as soon as you go out the sliding door. What's weird is that they're not down at the street level or whatnot, just higher up ... and they're annoying me big time !! I wonder if there's anything I can be doing to chase them away and leave me alone.
 
WanderLust said:
I think I've got the ones you had earlier this summer ... the ones that get into your face and swarm you as soon as you go out the sliding door. What's weird is that they're not down at the street level or whatnot, just higher up ... and they're annoying me big time !! I wonder if there's anything I can be doing to chase them away and leave me alone.
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We have a roof deck on the top of my building with great unobstructed views in every direction. We couldn't enjoy it this summer because of those damn bugs, there were millions up there every time I went up, I'd literally get covered in them when I'd go up there. I only live 4 levels below and they weren't nearly as bad on my balcony, I don't understand why they were so many of them up there. In the end I finally only went up every month or two to quickly grab north/west/east photos to post here of buildings under construction, the rest I get from my south facing balcony.
 
A couple of years ago they were at street level for a few days and they had to close the SkyDome because of them. I think I remember them saying that they grow in the soy bean crops and it requires the ladybug population to be large enough to keep them in check. Sometimes a large amount of them leads to a large amount of ladybugs a few weeks later but it is a bit late in the season now.
 
EnviroTO said:
A couple of years ago they were at street level for a few days and they had to close the SkyDome because of them. I think I remember them saying that they grow in the soy bean crops and it requires the ladybug population to be large enough to keep them in check. Sometimes a large amount of them leads to a large amount of ladybugs a few weeks later but it is a bit late in the season now.
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I think that was back around 2001, some unusual wind event picked billions of them up from the Prairies and dumped them in southern Ontario, those were aphids I believe and yes, ladybugs eat them. I have a couple of pics. from the media during that event -

bugs-you.jpg
jay_bugs.jpg
 
They're at street level, in the parks ... I ran through a bunch the other day
 
Not nearly as bad as a few years ago around the foot of the Humber. All the way up to Windemere, you'd be swarmed with gnats. And the closer to the water you moved, the thicker the swarms. I haven't seen any this summer.
 
These things on my terrace aren't gnats for sure, they're black things, don't know what they're called, not aphids either. They're clinging to the ceiling of the balcony, and the windows, millions of them. And they're aggressive as soon as anyone goes out there. But they're not on the street level outside the building which is weird, just higher up. From a distance, you'd think they're mosquitoes, but they're not, but I've seen them before, just not in the millions all at once.
 
I had them all over the screen of my balcony this morning, and other people in the building were mentioning them too. They weren't black though, sort of brown. There were some along the lakefront when I was out for my run, but not as many as there were last week. I'm not sure which is worse on the balcony -- these things or the spider infestation earlier this summer!
 
PinkLucy said:
I had them all over the screen of my balcony this morning, and other people in the building were mentioning them too. They weren't black though, sort of brown. There were some along the lakefront when I was out for my run, but not as many as there were last week. I'm not sure which is worse on the balcony -- these things or the spider infestation earlier this summer!
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I haven't seen any in the north end of the city, but from what is being described they are probably large hatches of aquatic flies along the shoreline- midges perhaps. Mating flying ants are common this time of year as well- there are swarms of them, brownish in colour, that appear in clouds above the treetops. Seagulls will flock and circle in droves to feed on them. Does anybody have a close up photo of one of the bugs?
 
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Mine seemed to have thicker bodies -- sort of like a larger fruit fly. But they're all gone now so I can't get a picture. They seemed to disappear once the sun/warmth hit the balcony.
 
ttk77 said:
Something like this?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chironomidae

I get them all over the rooftop patio of my building in the spring and fall. They make it impossible to spend more than a few seconds up on the roof before running back inside. Sometimes they're so thick you can breathe them in. :(
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I think that's what they are !!
They're midges !!!
I wish I knew what I could do to keep them away from my outdoor space short of employing a thousand spiders to do their magic webs. I think they just die off after a few weeks, and then they start over. They seem to come and go in cycles.
 
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