Prevention, Exclusion And Control
What You Should Know
House Fly Facts (Summer Fly)
The fly that is most often a pest to humans is the house fly. The common house fly is grayish-black. It is about 1/4 inch long and is covered in hair. The female house fly is larger than the male. In two weeks, one female may lay more than 1,000 eggs in animal wastes, household garbage and piled lawn clippings.
Lesser House Fly (Spring Fly)
The lesser house fly can be seen flying around at eye-level hovering in the middle of a room, garage, patio, under trees or other covered areas. It only lands at night to rest. Larvae develop from eggs laid in organic matter.
Fly Feeding
Flies can ingest food material by sucking up liquid foods. They also eat by using teeth to scrape the surface of food and moistening the surface with saliva and liquid vomit so that the material can be sucked up and ingested.
Fly Diseases
Flies carry disease and spread germs. Here are some of the most common fly diseases:
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Dysentery: Stomach infection with cramping, fever or blood-stained stools.
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Cholera: Infection of the intestines that can cause diarrhea.
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Pinkeye: Inflammation of the white part of the eye.
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Tuberculosis: Infection which can affect the lungs or central nervous system.
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Smallpox: Infection which causes flu-like symptoms and rash.
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Myiasis: Infestation of tissues by fly larvae or maggots.
Fly Prevention
Fly control and prevention is not hard, but it must be done correctly. Flies breed in places where garbage,
animal waste and organic matter is found. Make sure you:
- Use garbage cans that have tight fitting lids and do not have holes
- Wash the inside of garbage cans often
- Throw away food and leftovers in plastic trash bags and tie up bags right away
- Place grass clippings in plastic bags and tie up the bag
- Pick up animal droppings as soon as you can and tie up in a plastic bag
- Remove fallen fruit and vegetables right away; flies are attracted to sweet and sour smells
If you have dumpsters, it may be necessary to have trash picked up twice a week, especially at restaurants and apartment/condo complexes where there is a high volume of trash.
Fly Exclusion
Excluding flies from entering the home will help relieve their annoyance, but remember it is still important to remove their breeding sources. To keep out flies, screens with 16 mesh are recommended. In order to keep out smaller flies, such as fruit flies, 24 mesh screens should be used.
- Keep screens in good repair
- Install high self-closing doors
- Install high velocity fans over doors that must remain open
Fly Control
Fly strips and fly bags are effective and a cheap way to control flies around the home. They can be purchased at most grocery and home improvement stores.
If you need to use insecticides to control flies in your home, make sure to follow the instructions carefully.
Fly swatters are still a good way to control the occasional fly. Keep one handy.
Fly Life Cycle
- Embryo/Eggs: Female lays eggs in moist organic matter, such as garbage, animal waste or rotting fruits and vegetables.
- Larvae: Eggs hatch into tiny larvae, which have three stages and feed on the organic material.
- Pupae: Larvae turn into pupae.
- Adult: Adult flies hatch from pupae.
Call County Vector Control If:
- You have a large amount of adult flies around your property and can not locate their breeding source
- You have questions about fly breeding around your property
- You would like advice on how to prevent, exclude and control flies
