Can anyone advise about flies in our garden soil, please?
I've just been digging dense buttercups out of a patch of garden (much to the bemusement of the bumblebees) and have been bitten all over. The area is in Scotland, highish (325m,c1100ft) mostly shaded to dapply, clay, permanently moist as at a low spot, near a stream, and quite rich in nitrogen and plant matter. Weather is warm. Plants doing well in the spot include willow, miscanthus, nettles buttercups and snowdrops and a shrub I think might be doizia.
These are not midges but smaller, and swarm just above the surface as I dig. I'm not sure if they're being released or are attracted to the bare earth. After a bit of sun on the soil and a breeze, they disperse. They don't seem to be over the areas I've done already.
Can anyone tell me what they are, and how I get rid? They're bitey little beasties and I come up in lumps. I'd like to stuff as much ground cover into this bed as possible, but am not sure if that will make it worse again. Maybe I should leave it exposed for a while. Any thoughts welcome.