Flies.
 

Anyone else been having problems? There is a small brown fly, a bit like the common house fly, but these bite like a hot needle. Yesterday, in one half hour I was bitten more times than in all the time previously in Spain.

Some of our neighbours are staying inside most of the day, and I am currently risking heatstroke wearing long sleves and jeans if I go into the garden, 'cos it beats being bitten to death.

Does anyone know what they are?

Re: Flies.
 

I know the ones you mean, they are sandflies (their name comes from their colour). The problem with them is that you rarely see them bite! In Australia they are a problem and they call them something like 'no see ums'! The bites cause an allergic reaction and take several days to go down. I was bitten in Spain last summer, everytime one went down - I got bitten again!!! They are much worse than mosquito bites!

I hear Avons' Skin so Soft body spray is the best way of keeping them away -I've stocked up on it so I am keeping my fingers crossed this summer!

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I thought he meant those too - but aren't they tiny?

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Yes, they are the ones that cause that serious illness with dogs, but they are only reckoned to come out after dark.
Thats why vets recommend that dogs are kept indoors between May and September at night-time.

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It's not just dogs that can catch it (Leishmaniasis). Humans can be bitten by infected flies and catch it.

It is rare but the TV presenter Ben Fogel caught it from a sandfly bite and it nearly killed him.

Under new rules recently introduced in Spain all dogs that have the disease either have to have a very expensive treatment or be put down.

The reason for this is that infected dogs are a reservoir for the infection and as it can be passed to humans it is now strictly controlled just like rabies.

Re: Flies.
 

saw what sandfly can do to a dog, poor little thing, like mange but X10. She had barely any hair left on her, she was a campo dog and someone has taken her in and is having her treated, she is on injection 19 of 30.

First thing on my list for our dogs was trip to vet and they had the full lot, rabbies booster, parvo, kennel cough etc booster, sandfly collars and drops, worming tablets, 300 euros later at least can sleep easier knowing they have at least some protection. Just wish that I was not a walking buffet for the mosquitto population, our house smells like a pox doctors clerk at night just before bed and I still get bitten, lol.

We seem to have been adopted by the dog from the finca next door, think he is thinking of moving in, lol. He is spending less time there and more time at ours, now stays in at night and refuses to go home, amazing what a little love does.

Re: Flies.
 

Seems a bit of a mystery Bill.
Only thing I can think of is the horse fly family,incl clegs,and deer or forest flies that all have a wicked bite, but don't quite fit your description though I think the deer fly is a tad smaller.
Only other brown one I know is the sh!t fly or dung fly but as the name suggests they have other preferences.
Shall await developments with interest.

Re: Flies.
 

Well, these aren't tiny, and they are out in the sun, so poss not sandflies.

Our neighbour down the road is blanketing house, garden and allotment with insecticide, which I really don't want to do.

What with the winter, the rain, et al and now this, this has been the worst year here for a long time.

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There seem to be more flies about this year, they usually arrive later but are here already, not the bite type, just the ones that keep relanding on you when you swack them off.

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I would agree on horse fly, they really hurt but at least it's short lived pain.
Horse flies tend to be a light brown colour and a bit dappled.

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The only horse flies I know aren't anything like these. These biters are almost identical to the small houseflies.

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I agree with that.

I still remember being bitten by a horsefly when I was about 8. It was a big fly and the swelling was about 3" across and took a week to go down.

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Don´t know what the fly is Bil but do swear by Avon soft n smooth and also M&S lemon shower gel for the mossies don´t know if they will deter your lot. Do you have horses or goats nearby? Also the electronic bat www.swatthefly.co.uk is brilliant much better than any you can buy in the DIY stores. 7.45 GBP plus P&P and deliver to Spain

Re: Flies.
 

what they could be is African Black flies, unlike mosquitos, which stab you with a long sharp probocus(Nose) these little pests have extended mandables which chew throught the to layer of skin, then they spit an anti coagulant into the wound...... that is what causes the itch. bathe the bite in MEDICINAL alcohol and apply an antihystemine cream.

Use a repelant with Deet. dry off sweat(they are attracted to moisture) if possible wear close fitting sunglasses.

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African Black Flies sound really nasty

http://www.cartercenter.org/health/r...ess/index.html

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Last time we were over, a few weeks ago, I was bitten about 7 times during the second night on my arm. the bites were hardly noticable but then my arm swelled up around the bites turning red in an ever widening circle, I looked like Popeye!

We do have tiny jumping spiders and I do know a few folk who are allergic to their bites

These were not mozzie bites, as I am allergic to those and come up it blisters.

The cleg or horsefly bites I used to get in the U.K. are something else, blisters the size of egg yolks.

Was never bitten by a mozzie this time except in Malaga airport coming home, still have the remnants of the bites on my foot. talk about getting the last bite in:frown:

Re: Flies.
 

Having done a little more research,the nearest I can find to your description is the stable fly.
Love the sunshine,feed of animal life and breed in garden rubbish etc.
I take a bashing from something very similar in Sweden every Summer,where they compete with the squadrons of mossies and hossflies, to see which can inflict most damage.
Rarely go out without my beekeepers outfit at the height of Summer,its so bad.
In some towns a little further North ppl.are virtual prisoners in their own houses.

Re: Flies.
 

one of these?

http://www.bayeranimal.com.au/_uploa...tablefly02.gif

Re: Flies.
 

Looks like it, yeah.

If they breed in garden rubbish, I wonder if that has anything to do with why the people round here don't compost?

Re: Flies.
 

As a confirmed townie, but now with a 1,000 metre garden in the hot sun, I've gotten used to some of those terrifying things that slither, crawl and fly around to frighten me. I let them get on with it in the garden, but fight them in the house, with sprays, powders, traps, and other weapons.

The flies have arrived early this year and I'm currently trying Chinese fly paper. They stick to it and I've just had a look, but they appear to be the non-stinging black ones. I would imagine the brown ones would stick to the fly paper too. The Chinese shops sell them.

Re: Flies.
 

The downside of fly paper is that on a hot day, the glue weakens and flies can pull thenselves free. They then land on the wall and stick there till they die. Getting them off is pretty vile.

If you google fly killing pen, there's a rentokill product. You apply the clear liquid where the flies land, like the bottom of the window pane, or the ends of flouro tubes where the flies land, and if a fly gets one leg on it he's dead within a minute or two.

Fantastic stuff. In normal domestic use, a pen will last up to a year, if you remember to put the cap back on each time, and not use it on dirty, dusty surfaces.

Re: Flies.
 

Last year my daughter bought me a tennis-racket-like swatter with a fine wire mesh in place of the strings, connected to a couple of batteries so the insects immediately get fried on contact.
Good fun, but 3 or 4 smashed ornaments later I thought its back to the old swatter,(I'm back here in UK at present).
So went to the local shops and market,..not a swatter to be seen,..but came across some little plastic guns at 50p each on the market for shooting the beggars down.
Looks like a cheap kids toy,but its marked not for children.
It consists of a pistol grip with a 3inch dia plastic mesh disc with central rod as ammunition,which is pushed and spring loaded into the barrel ready to fire.
Not had a great deal of luck with it up till now, but I notice the cat and dog have decided to retire to bed early for some strange reason.:confused:

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Re mozzies rather than flies. We buy from Mercadona small half inch pactches that you stick on the inside of your wrist - I suppose they work on the same principal as No Smoking Patches - They come in a small 3 1/2 x 5 1/2 yellowish envelope called 'NOMOSQITOS' and contain 24 patches you can peel off and stick on your skin.

Have used them for two years now and find them very effective. (For mozzies that is not stopping smoking!!)

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www.swatthefly.co.uk for the bat. I use it and it is very effective.

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How very interesting. I wonder if they work by giving off a chemical that is absorbed by the body making you less palatable?

I shall have to see if they are available in our mercadonna.

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Got one, or one very similar, brilliant

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The price is outrageous.....before wemoved from Hong Kong we bought a whole load of these bats about 30 of them all priced at HK$ 15.00 which is about 1 POUND:eek:

Re: Flies.
 

Came across this. It's a dorsal comparison between the stable fly and the house fly.

You can imagine how hard it is to tell them apart, especially when they don't stay still for long.