Annoying Flies

[Samantha Lewanewsky]

I keep finding tiny black flies around the place, around the house really.
But I do see quite a few in my room, where I keep my tarantulas.
I've seen them in my spiders tanks, and in my giant african land snails tank.

They seem to particularly like soil, I see a lot of them about in the gardening bit of Wilkinsons, don't know if that's because they like soil, or the humidy because the soil is damp.

They're only little, about 1mm or so.

Anyone know what they are and if they are dangerous at all for my spiders?
I'm really concerned because after finding 7 or 8 of the flies in one of my haplopelmas tank, she seems to have gone very lathargic and has stopped eating.
I'm not sure if it's because of the flies or if she's due to moult.

I haven't got a picture of them, they're a bit small to photograph.

I found this pic on google, it looks very similar, I'd say the abdomen on my flies seem a little more elongated and slender.

http://www.hydroponicsdictionary.com/images/pests/full_fungusgnat.jpg

Cheers
Samantha

[Phil Rea]

Fungus gnats are harmless. They're probably what you see flying around the peat at Wilko's. I think they must sell them, because I've never been to a Wilkinsons that hasn't got them The one in Holyhead certainly does!

Female fungus gnats have fatter abdomens, and the males have elongated abdomens with claws at the end (they're mating apparatus). They are very primitive flies.

The ones you need to worry about are phorid (or scuttle) flies. They tend to scuttle about the ground in a zig zag manner rather than immediately taking off if disturbed. They have what appears to be a humped back.

I may do a write up one of these fine days pointing out what the obvious differences are, because it seems to cause much confusion. I may even share some pictures of 45 - 50 million year old ones in Amber

[James Box]

that would be great Phil
i get all sorts of flies, definitely Phorids. a real problem!

[Samantha Lewanewsky]

Thanks for your help Phil You should definitely write something about them, I couldn't find anything on google about it!

[Faye Sweeney]

I just inherited a breeding colony of these little guys with my most recent purchase
I'm going to remove the top layer of substrate and put some fresh stuff in - then try to keep the tank a little less humid... I'll let you know if it works!

[Phil Rea]

I just inherited a breeding colony of these little guys with my most recent purchase
I'm going to remove the top layer of substrate and put some fresh stuff in - then try to keep the tank a little less humid... I'll let you know if it works!

Try and remove any prey remains straight away if you spot them. Phorids are expert scavengers

[Faye Sweeney]

Try and remove any prey remains straight away if you spot them. Phorids are expert scavengers

Will do Phil thanks