Ugh! Flies or mosquitos (babies) in my house!

[OriginofLove420]

I swear, I'm about ready to move. I have been seeing all these small, winged insects inside the past couple of days. I think they are flies, but I'm not sure. Anyone know where I can see pics of baby flys? Anyway, I saw a bunch on the underside of a kitchen cabinet. I opened that cabinet, and there were many of them in there. It's not even a food cupboard or anything. The weird thing is that there were a lot of them on the inside of a window on the other side of the house too.

Has anyone dealt with this before? I'm absolutely disgusted and I don't want to do all the extensive cleaning that now needs to be done until I've eliminated the sources.

I'm stumped and don't know where to begin.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

[badgolferman]

Possibly termites. Call pest control.

[Justignoreme420]

Is there like a government (maybe county) person who could identify what these are for free? I also have what might very well be a "queen." That makes me think maybe they are termites.

[badgolferman]

A reputable pest control company will come out and tell you for free what your problem is. Call more than one of them for a second opinion.

[Justignoreme420]

From pictures and such, I know that they are either termites or these ants that look like termites. I need a magnifying glass to tell the difference. Anyway, they are doing what's referred to as "swarming."

[Lar]

In article , [e-mail] says... :) From pictures and such, I know that they are either termites or these ants that :) look like termites. I need a magnifying glass to tell the difference. Anyway, :) they are doing what's referred to as "swarming." :) :) Ants will send out their reproductives to start new colonies by swarming. Ants are related to wasps so their bodies will be wasp like, with a pinched waist. Termites are related to roaches so their bodies will be thumb shaped. Another possibility would be some sort of tiny parasitic wasp have emerged. Many types are smaller than most ants.

[Jeff Cochran]

Baby flies are called maggots. Small flies are just small flies.

Jeff

[Kevin O']

Jeff,

If you own an outdoor cat (that hunts) you may occasionally experience something like this. I've had one of our cats hunt something (usually a mouse or a chipmunk), sneak it back to the cellar - where it becomes host to a swarm of flies in about 1-2 weeks (dead mouse = maggots = flies). Look in crawl spaces, under furniture, anywhere dark where it would not be disturbed or seen... The big indicator is that "window full of flies" you mentioned, I think they fly there instinctively trying to get out to feed - or it could be attraction to light.

If you have a cat, or a history of the occasional mouse - it's a good bet. Problem will clear up in a few days... open all the screens and let the flies out... check all windows, probably more in one's you haven't checked... flies only live 28 days, so it won't be a long-term problem...

• This does not mean that it couldn't be something else that would require an exterminator, I'm just saying it sounds a lot like the dead mouse thing...

Good luck,

Kevin O'