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Fly infestation


KWA

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The last few evenings at about dusk my balcony has been subject to an infestation of flies, literally hundreds of them, heading for the light as flies do.  My balcony is surrounded by mesh, and although there are gaps I don't believe they can all be getting through the gaps so must be originating within the netting somewhere.  After spraying them and sweeping up the dead bodies tonight I gave the sink and cupboard at one side of the balcony a good cleaning, and if they're back tomorrow I'll do the other side where the cooking stuff is.

I'm wondering if anyone here has experienced anything similar, or could suggest where these might be coming from and how to get rid of them?

I'm told the Thais call them what sounds like melang, but Google suggests might be Mælngwạn.

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20 minutes ago, KWA said:

The last few evenings at about dusk my balcony has been subject to an infestation of flies, literally hundreds of them, heading for the light as flies do.  My balcony is surrounded by mesh, and although there are gaps I don't believe they can all be getting through the gaps so must be originating within the netting somewhere.  After spraying them and sweeping up the dead bodies tonight I gave the sink and cupboard at one side of the balcony a good cleaning, and if they're back tomorrow I'll do the other side where the cooking stuff is.

I'm wondering if anyone here has experienced anything similar, or could suggest where these might be coming from and how to get rid of them?

I'm told the Thais call them what sounds like melang, but Google suggests might be Mælngwạn.

Wow ! That is some really serious shit in my book. I'm not joking either.

There isn't much I hate more than flies. I would not be able to last more than a couple of days dealing with that. I would have to leave, move out.

I wish I had some kind of remedy for you, but I don't. 

When I was a kid I was out sailing with my uncle and brother on Lake Michigan. We sailed out of Chicago and far out into the lake (Lake Michigan is a huge lake). We stopped for a break and all of a sudden we were fucking covered in flies. I'm not talking about the typical shit eating flies we normally see. These were large biting "horse flies" and those motherfuckers were hungry. What a nightmare that was !!! Eventually we got the hell out of there, but man....   I was thinking where in the f**k did those flies come from ??? We were miles out in the middle of a giant lake FFS. Where did they breed ? What did they eat ? And why were they out in the middle of the fucking lake ????

I hope the best for you mate, and that you can get through this. It would drive me up a wall. Best of luck to you.

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1 hour ago, KWA said:

The last few evenings at about dusk my balcony has been subject to an infestation of flies, literally hundreds of them, heading for the light as flies do.  My balcony is surrounded by mesh, and although there are gaps I don't believe they can all be getting through the gaps so must be originating within the netting somewhere.  After spraying them and sweeping up the dead bodies tonight I gave the sink and cupboard at one side of the balcony a good cleaning, and if they're back tomorrow I'll do the other side where the cooking stuff is.

I'm wondering if anyone here has experienced anything similar, or could suggest where these might be coming from and how to get rid of them?

I'm told the Thais call them what sounds like melang, but Google suggests might be Mælngwạn.

You may have had some lay eggs in some food item and just hatched out from maggots. It shouldn't last for more than a few days.

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44 minutes ago, boydeste said:

You may have had some lay eggs in some food item and just hatched out from maggots. It shouldn't last for more than a few days.

Yep. Probalby something died near by. 

 

That's how the typical flies come about. If you smell serious nasty, you can expect massive fly infestation. I've also learned that they thrive in environments where there is permafrost, geographically speaking. I can't recall the ideal conditions. But if I recall correctly the are certain ground/environmental (soil) conditions where they do better than others. 

I have been in parts of Central and South America and in the Northwest U.S. where people didn't even have screens on the windows. There just weren't that many flies. I mean places you would expect to see a lot of them that didn't have many at all.

About the only thing I like about colder weather is that it kills off the flies.

Reminds me of the first dead body I ever encountered. While walking through a parking garage in Chicago I came upon a horrific smell, but I could not locate anything. I figured it was a dead cat or something rotting under one of the parked cars. I continued on. 

The next day I learned what it was. A guy on the midnight shift discovered it.....

Since it was nightime all the cars had departed the garage except one. He encountered the same smell, but since there was only one car he was able to determine the origin of the stink. A dead body in the trunk, left there in the summer heat to rot...

He said the maggots were unforgetable....     ahhh, so much for that story time for my bedtime snack.

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5 hours ago, Glasseye said:

Wow ! That is some really serious shit in my book. I'm not joking either.

There isn't much I hate more than flies. I would not be able to last more than a couple of days dealing with that. I would have to leave, move out.

I wish I had some kind of remedy for you, but I don't. 

When I was a kid I was out sailing with my uncle and brother on Lake Michigan. We sailed out of Chicago and far out into the lake (Lake Michigan is a huge lake). We stopped for a break and all of a sudden we were fucking covered in flies. I'm not talking about the typical shit eating flies we normally see. These were large biting "horse flies" and those motherfuckers were hungry. What a nightmare that was !!! Eventually we got the hell out of there, but man....   I was thinking where in the f**k did those flies come from ??? We were miles out in the middle of a giant lake FFS. Where did they breed ? What did they eat ? And why were they out in the middle of the fucking lake ????

I hope the best for you mate, and that you can get through this. It would drive me up a wall. Best of luck to you.

I can recall the same thing happening to us near Haines, Alaska when I was a kid - we'd borrowed some crab traps and went across the fjord to set them out, miles over water yet the minute we stopped we were swarmed by horseflies - I wondered the same thing, where did they come from and what did they eat when we weren't around? Did they just fly around in endless circles waiting for their next victim(s)? Crazy...

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It is a bit off/topic but we were playing golf one day at Burapha when the most enormous cloud of bees(?)  suddenly appeared right over us. We were all laying face down on the green and at one point they were so dense that they virtually blocked out the sun.

They hung around for a minute or two and then just as suddenly as they arrived they were gone.

Nobody was stung but it was quite scary whilst it lasted.

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38 minutes ago, Jambo said:

It is a bit off/topic but we were playing golf one day at Burapha when the most enormous cloud of bees(?)  suddenly appeared right over us. We were all laying face down on the green and at one point they were so dense that they virtually blocked out the sun.

They hung around for a minute or two and then just as suddenly as they arrived they were gone.

Nobody was stung but it was quite scary whilst it lasted.

That is incredibly scary shit man.

Reminds me of the Hitchcock movie -  "The Birds"

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Birds_(film)

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18 hours ago, forcebwithu said:

Two nights ago we had the same infestation, last night nothing. Not sure what type of fly it was, but believe it's annual hatch and after a day or two they're gone.

I don't think it's the same flies we're talking about.

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  • 11 months later...
On 1/29/2021 at 9:00 PM, coxyhog said:

Last time at our place in Korat at a certain time in the evening we would get a huge swarm of one type of fly around the lights,eventually they'd all drop dead.

Didn't really bother us just so long as we didn't sit under the lights.

Yup.

Over the years of living in the village I learned not to bother about the day to day bugs, but occasionally swarms would come in off the rice fields. In which case I went around the farm and the house switching all the lights off and sitting in complete darkness. After about 15 to 20 minutes they all buggered off to annoy somebody else .

If you live in Pattaya though I'd have a damn good check to see if there is a dead rat or cat rotting away somewhere.

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In Oman they'd come out of nowhere. One minute I'd be tucking into my sausage and chips at the SAF Beach Club, next I'd be inundated with them.  But by far the biggest problem indoors during the evening was the barfly. Very often already pissed on Amstel, they would insist on regailing one with tales of derring do during their time in the "Interior" which, conveniently had no witnesses and happened "before they kept keeping records".

In the Philippines I often sit out on the balcony with a cold bottle of Red Horse and some Sisig, listening to music, but I always light 2 of those mosquito repellent coils , it appears the flies don't like them much either and it tends to keep them away.

They, like wasps, are the ass hats of the insect world.

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I remember once being in Brunei when they closed the airport down for about 2 hours when winged termites swarmed the entrance, it was like a sandstorm.

Had them a lot in my house in Hua Hin at certain times of year, bloody annoying as their wings would still be under the doors and window frames in the house even when we shut up every access.

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Flies in Thailand are not fun.

If you live on a higher floor in a condo they aren't as bad. 

 

When you are walking they don't bother you much. But stop for just a few seconds outside and your ankles are suddenly attacked. I have learned to ALWAYS wear a baseball cap when I am out. Not just to protect my head, but I use it to swat away the flies when they start attacking my ankles. 

 

I hate the mother fuckers.

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13 hours ago, Glasseye said:

Flies in Thailand are not fun.

If you live on a higher floor in a condo they aren't as bad. 

When you are walking they don't bother you much. But stop for just a few seconds outside and your ankles are suddenly attacked. I have learned to ALWAYS wear a baseball cap when I am out. Not just to protect my head, but I use it to swat away the flies when they start attacking my ankles. 

I hate the mother fuckers.

Ankles are a favorite target for mozzies. So much so that as a matter of habit I give my lower legs a spray of mosquito repellent before heading out for the evening.

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27 minutes ago, forcebwithu said:

Ankles are a favorite target for mozzies. So much so that as a matter of habit I give my lower legs a spray of mosquito repellent before heading out for the evening.

I do the same, plus I carry one of those small pink bottles from the 7 11 for a top up later in the night.

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39 minutes ago, forcebwithu said:

Ankles are a favorite target for mozzies. So much so that as a matter of habit I give my lower legs a spray of mosquito repellent before heading out for the evening.

During the day is when the flies are a problem. I don't think that spray does anything for the flies. Sometimes I will use it at night if I go out for the mozzies. But heck.... I was getting so I rarely went out at night for very long before I left - Thanks to Mr. Corona.

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5 hours ago, Glasseye said:

During the day is when the flies are a problem. I don't think that spray does anything for the flies.

You are right, it does deter them a bit, but it's mainly for mozzies. They have a brilliant Bush spray in Australia which has deet for mozzies,  but also has something to keep the flies away. My mate brought me back 6 large cans a few years ago.

I have one in my room right now, but it's packed ready for a days fishing tomorrow. If I remember,  I will post a picture of it tomorrow as I am in a bar at the moment. 

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11 hours ago, boydeste said:

You are right, it does deter them a bit, but it's mainly for mozzies. They have a brilliant Bush spray in Australia which has deet for mozzies,  but also has something to keep the flies away. My mate brought me back 6 large cans a few years ago.

I have one in my room right now, but it's packed ready for a days fishing tomorrow. If I remember,  I will post a picture of it tomorrow as I am in a bar at the moment. 

Cool. A repellant that would work against flies would be worth it's weight in gold.

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