We found clouds of small flies coming from our compost-based garden soil. The pest control person said these are Phorid flies (humpback flies) and can only be managed by reducing watering. We did not water this year, and it does not do the trick. Anyone knows how to handle these critters? Thank you.
I looked these up on Wikipedia, since I have never heard of them: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoridae Fascinating! So, when your soil calms-down after the rapidly decomposing animal-based components have been recycled into something more stable, the flies should disappear. Why potentially compound the problem by spraying stuff around? The pest control guy sounds sensible. Don't make it wet & smelly. A reminder to me to ask clearly what goes into mulch I buy. gb
