I really, really hate these fuckers. We just lost our porch to them in a hostile takeover.

I've read some anecdotal stuff that says they're attracted to some shades of blue, but that's about it. Anyone have any methods that work for repellent/control?

6/3/2012 8:07:42 PM

Anyone have any methods that work for repellent/control?

Fire.

6/3/2012 8:19:23 PM

Jumbo Bug zapper?

6/3/2012 8:20:36 PM

i've never found anything that worked for yellow flies except long sleeves and pants.

6/3/2012 8:25:32 PM

Fly paper?

6/3/2012 8:42:50 PM

do they bite?

6/3/2012 8:43:33 PM

yep, they hurt pretty bad. They have chelate mouthparts that basically acts like tiny razors to scrape a layer of skin off and then they lap up the blood. Only the females feed. The only way to really control them is to control the water source, but this is not usually possible. do you live in a neighborhood? do you own most of the property, if there is any way you can drain/divert the water near your home, then that would eliminate nearby breeding grounds. The eggs are laid around the water and they hang out in muddy/organic filled water and eat rotting plant materials.

Other than that the only thing you can do is to get really creative with blue attractants like you mentioned

this guy has to work around deer flies for work so he made modifications to his safety ear things




http://www.instructables.com/id/Deer-Fly-Traps/#step1
or get a manitoba trap

Quote :

"This trap is a commercial version of the Manitoba trap, which can be seen and purchased at bitingflies.com web site. It is intended for horse flies, but I bought one and found that is quite effective against deer flies. No chemicals, no poisons, but very expensive. The lure is a large, tough inflatable black ball ($50), which gets warmed by the sun. Apparently the female fly thinks she is going to get to bite a REALLY BIG horse. Once she does not find the blood meal she needs in order to lay her eggs, she escapes upward, is funneled into a clear plastic jar, where she dies from dessication (i.e., drying out with extreme prejudice). I have used this trap to try out cheaper lures of my own design for use with sticky traps. "

6/3/2012 9:03:59 PM

Do they ever. On par with a fire ant bite/sting.

6/3/2012 9:04:04 PM

do you see the part labeled 'Ma'? those are the mandibles, on biting flies they are serated and act as a pair of scssoring razors.

6/3/2012 9:15:02 PM

i've had them bite me before and a few minutes later i look down and blood is running down my leg. damn things hurt like hell.

6/3/2012 9:21:51 PM

Oh god...I am scurred.

6/3/2012 9:58:57 PM

I don't know much about yellow flies, but black flies will F your shit up.

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

6/3/2012 10:39:11 PM

and when you swat them it never really kills them

you just swat them and rolled them off you and then they kinda limp or hapazardly fly away

they must have a very advanced exoskeleton, i have never one hitta quitta'd a deer fly

6/3/2012 11:29:25 PM

I smashed one this afternoon against the side of a column on my porch and left him there, sort of as a warning to others of his kind...


didn't work

6/3/2012 11:31:26 PM

those fly traps are awesome. they turn into a better self sustaining ecosystem than any engineered biosphere.

the first flies that get trapped turn into jello by the time the reach the bottom and get eaten by the flies on top.

all the flies in there never truly die.

its really weird actually, and by the time it reaches critical mass it stinks real bad too. i had this happen more than once and solved it with fire.

smelled even better

but they work. fuck flies. get one of those electric traps that hangs on the porch and fries them.

6/3/2012 11:54:25 PM

bug "zappers" do not work, period.

also mint, sage, and lemon are all things that repel insects in general. If you plant a border of mint and sage around your deck you can deter general pests.

6/4/2012 1:48:43 AM