The best choice is the ectemnius cavifrons a wasp that specialises in killing hoverflies. When i have company and we want to set out on the patio on a hot summer evening i cut basil and set it out in vases.
Hovering Flies Ask An Expert
I have hover flies in my own backyard as do most bay area residents and i just ignore them.
How to get rid of hover flies. The hover and flit flight pattern plus broad wings held out from the body when landed distinguish hover flies from wasps. Flies do not like the sent of that plant. Some hover flies protect themselves from predators by mimicking wasps by having yellow and black stripes.
The flies and their activities as annoying as they are should soon subside of their own accord. If this is the case take a glass of wine and spread saran wrap tight over top. Plant pots of basil and set them around your patio.
You can place vinegar in a soda bottle that you cut in half and add a drop of dish soap. On jun 10 2017. Vinegar works well as bait for hoverflies.
Starve hoverflies by removing the source of food. Remove all flowers and other pollen and nectar bearing plants from the area because hoverflies eat and digest pollen. I doubt that the old fashioned remedy of hanging a sticky fly strip will be effective outdoors.
Vinegar and dish soap fly trap is highly effective in trapping flies. Unless they are fruit flies. Leave it there for a week or two and see if that.
The flies will go in to get the vinegar and get stuck by the soap. These little flies are basically doing the same kind of insect control in your garden. Kill individual flies you encounter with the flyswatter to further reduce their numbers.
Mix 20 drops of lemongrass oil with 1 2 cup water and spray in the infested areas. Take a fork and poke a few holes in top. Cover the glass with plastic.
In a previous response by a different expert a suggestion was made to make a game of catching the flies using a vacuum or shop vac with a long hose to catch them on the wing. Wasps hold their narrower wings back more tightly to the body. Cover the top with plastic wrap and make some holes in it.
See the images in the gallery for comparison. Spray lemongrass oil mixed with water to keep flies away. You get a bonus of having a wonderful herb to use in the kitchen.
A mixture of vinegar and dish soap can help you trap flies. Use pyrethrin based fly sprays. To use this method mix about an inch of apple cider vinegar and a few drops of dish soap in a tall glass.