Cream coloured and shaped like an elongated wedge cluster fly larvae feed on live earthworms for about 13 to 22 days before advancing to the pupal stage which also takes place in the soil. The eggs hatch in about four days and the maggots begin to search for earthworms.
This is because the larvae of a Cluster fly are an earthworm parasite that requires earthworms to grow into full adult Cluster flies.
What do cluster flies live on. This process typically occurs during the spring and summer and as fall arrives these pests head indoors in search of shelter. When it gets cool cluster flies hide in cracks crevices and voids. Once located the earthworm is parasitized by the larva.
Adult Cluster flies outdoors live close to the ground level and feed on flower nectar plant sap fruits and other organic materials. How do cluster flies get in the house. Cluster flies develop as parasites inside the bodies of earthworms.
The poor worm does not usually survive the experience. The best way to keep Cluster Flies out of your house is. Cluster flies have an interesting and bizarre life cycle.
Cluster flies like to lay their eggs on lawns areas that have earthworms within the soil. But while cluster fly larvae may rely on earthworms to feed and grow to their adult stage adult cluster flies are far more interested in finding a warm place to ride out the long winter - and thats where indoor spaces like attics basements and low-traffic closets can come into play. As larvae cluster flies exist as parasites inside of earthworms.
They get in through cracks crevices and other small entry points around your property- especially through window frames doorways and wall voids. Rarely seen and interesting behaviour of cluster flies is that the larvae search for earthworms living in the ground. Once inside cluster flies will hide and are usually not seen by people.
From late August to early September depending on the temperature and region adult cluster flies search for overwintering sites. As they mature they enter the pupal stage and after 1-2 weeks they exit from the pupal case. Like their name they congregate in large numbers very often in attics.
Cluster Flies get into houses to establish a place to live and eventually overwinter. Cluster flies are capable of crawling through small openings in the walls of a structure. Usually gathering on sunlit surfaces on roofs of buildings walls weather stripping and windows.
They begin their lives beneath the Earth in the soil feeding on earthworms that live below as a parasite. After hatching from eggs the cluster fly larvae find and burrow into the body of an earthworm to feed. They take shelter in the attic or higher up floors rather than basements and floors closer to the foundation if you have a multiple-story house.
Because they only lay eggs within the soil as opposed to within human food cluster flies pose no harm to humans other than being a nuisance. Theyre often only seen inside homes in the winter while they wait out the cold weather. Cluster flies prefer warm areas so homeowners often find them flying around houses on sunny days in the winter and late fall months.
Cluster flies are overwintering meaning they will try to enter a home or building in the fall as temperatures begin to cool in search of a warm place to survive the winter. They can get in through any type of small opening. Once a worm is found the maggot burrows into it and begins feasting.
Cluster flies are strictly parasitic on earthworms. Their maggot larvae are parasites of earthworms and adult females lay their eggs in the soil near earthworm burrows so that the larvae can burrow into the ground and feed on the worms. Unlike blow flies cluster flies are not associated with animal carcass faeces or woollens.
When September arrives the cluster flies with start to look for a place to hibernate. These flies enter homes looking for overwintering sites during the cold months. Cluster flies do not reproduce indoors and home owners bothered by these pests do not need to fear the flies are hatching from a dead animal or other unpleasant material within the attic or walls.
Cluster Fly Life Cycle When a female emerges from hibernation or is otherwise ready she will lay eggs in soil where earthworms are active. What Causes Cluster Flies in your home.
