help....flat swarming when cutting grass!!

Hippyness

Please please can anyone help me.......... my husband is getting swarmed upon by hundreds of flies big and small whenever he is trying to cut the lawn.  We live in a house with 2 acres of woodland and a quite boggy garden.  The lawn is broken up in many places with trees in the middle of the lawned area.  We have tried wearing hats, insect repellent and cutting the lawn on different times of the day and in different weathers but the result is still the same.  Any ideas how to avoid this unpleasant fly experience when gardening??

Hippyness

Flies swarming not flat swarming......silly predictive text!

pansyface

Without knowing the type(s) of fly involved it is impossible to say how you can avoid them. Some flies lay their eggs on dead animals, some on cow pats, some in standing water and some in grass. Some like long grass and some prefer short grass. It may be that by cutting the grass you are actually encouraging the flies to live there but, as I say, we won't know without being able to identify them.

Hippyness

Thanks, I will try and google the flies to see which ones they are! 

Hippyness

Mainly horse flys I think, green bottles etc.  Not the small midges or green fly unfortunately but big nasty ones!! 

pansyface

This is one place to look

http://www.naturespot.org.uk/taxonomy/term/22226

Hippyness

Thanks pansyface, I will certainly have a look 

 

Hippyness

Notch horned horse flys mainly I think , any ideas of a deterrent??