Flies and what people can do to help control them
House Fly
House fly is commonly related to farm and home pest. The species have long been known to disrupt human activities because they usually come and cause a public disease. In farms and hogs, they are often seen flying and they transport organism that triggers problems in hygiene and cause diseases.
These are commonly found in central Asia although now all of continents are proven to be inhabited by house flies. However, tropical feature of Asia continent is an ideal environment for them to feed on the garbage and even animal feces – which means, they inhabit urban areas where people mostly live.
The life cycle of a house fly requires a metamorphosis that starts from egg, larvae and adult phase. They pile their eggs under various locations hidden in the protected areas. Generally, hot weather is an optimal condition for them to complete the cycle of life. It can last up to 7 days. The condition requires 2 months old and they can generate many eggs in subtropical areas.
Facts about the house fly
House fly has latin name, Musca Domestica. It appears gray with four stripes on its thorax. The length is only 4 mm with the widest found only 7.5 mm long. Reproduction of the house fly are in a moist environment that is suitable for their larvae to feed on. Each female can lay eggs up to 100 eggs in amount with 12 of them can hatch in one day.
The diets and habits
The House fly lives in corners or objects that can be rested on. They can rest on the ceilings or floors and even plants. They feed on human foods, garbage, animal foods and many other foods that are usually not more than 15 feet from the ground.
The house fly lifespan is only 30 days or even less. They pass the stage of pupal in 10 days and become an adult fly. After emerging, they cease to grow and grow small hairs that can taste the foods. Their eyes consist of thousands of lenses so they can have a very wide vision on the objects. As disease carrier, the house fly can actually transfer Tuberculosis, typhoid, dysentery and cholera. These pathogens are stuck on their legs and their mouths as they feed on the trash materials.
Controlling the house fly
A real nuisance in the house – they can be very annoying as they also transmit diseases. It is important that home owners find solutions to get rid of them. Obviously as there are thousands of them, it could be harder than it sounds to actually control them. It is important to identify the species to find out the best solution to manage them.
Bush Fly
Bush fly is commonly known as dung. Usually they lay eggs on rainy season and they also spread bacteria that can harm human’s health. Moreover, the urban environment usually has a standard composition that allows them to come due to the ammonium sulfate amount. In some areas, traps are set up to catch bush flies. When a female bush fly cannot find foods or protein to complete the maturation of the eggs, they will stop developing. The life cycle of the bush fly usually breed in subtropical areas. Australia is one of the continents spotted to have thousands of them which larvae are found in the large mammal feces.
The Bush fliy usually inhabit veterinary farms. Usually they don’t just disturb humans but also the livestocks. With the huge percentage of disease transmission, authorities concern about getting rid of these species. The pests are disrupting food productions like vegetables and they even create parasites in livestocks. Flies eat various type of foods from organic to diary food that human consumes. Meat, animal tears, moist environment and saliva, blood, vegetables that are ripe. They are ideal food for the flies.
The Bush Flyhabitat
The bush fly habitat depends on their foods. Usually, the adults are carried by the wind and they can even hitch ride in cars or other vehicles. This explains why they are widespread and they transmit diseases easily. The Bush fly tends to live in farms and fruit growing plants. Those which are discarded become their tasteful foods. Decayed flesh or rotting vegetables, these things attracts bush flies. Other types of foods include dung and animal wastes. They feed on protein sources to feed their eggs properly.
The threats
The disease distribution is the primary concern regarding this organism. It could be possible that they can trigger food poisoning or even various works that become parasites in the body.
Blow Fly (Disease Carriers)
The Blow fly or the bottle fly can lay eggs to matters like animal feces or decomposed organics like rotten vegetables. It is a nature that animals or fruits decay in time and when these things are not managed properly, they can come anytime as if they are invited. The insects can smell from distance and arrive minutes later when an animal dies.
A fly can be inside a pipe as it has breakage. This is why, many of them show up during summer and they have huge body size. Extensions and damp areas are often the ideal place for them. Some of them even rest in bathroom. The location of their habitat are odd but this could explain how they can actually enter inside a house and live in the sewers. This is why, house maintenance generally requires plumbers to inspect if there is any crack on the pipes.
The old garbage that has not yet been taken outside the house is also an ideal place where they can lay eggs. The trash seems tasty and perfect for them to breed. In less than one week, they can lay thousands of eggs. Eggs and maggots can transform into flies. If home owners fail to notice, they can actually reproducing flies at their own home. Dead animals are surrounded by flies and this is why it is a common source of blow flies. Mice inside homes that are trapped and died or raccoon in the attic can invite these flies as their body decayed. The bigger the size, the more flies are produced.
It can be daunting to remove the dead animal bodies especially when they are hidden in walls or extension pipes. This is why you need a professional hand that can inspect the whole area and avoid insects to show up later on. In winter, the flies hibernate so there may not be a lot of them in the house. In summer days, flies go out and have active outdoor live to seek foods and protein.
How to deal with blow flies
Bottle flies or blow flies love to stay in bright areas. So they can be easily attracted to the lights as they see through the window. Many methods require toxic matter to capture them although this can cause bad odor. But there are treatments that can securely tie your windows so they won’t get inside. For instance, applying sticky tapes. Aerosol is also a perfect treatment that can kill flies. Fly strips are also recommended tools to remove flies from home.
March Fly
March fly is also called horse flies. The flies can be as short as 6 mm or as long as 25 mm. this pest has large eyes and commonly found in Australia. As a type of pest, March flies can disturb the habitats of humans and livestocks even the wildlife. The flies bite especially the females because they need it to feed the eggs. They also find plant juice and nectar to be delicious foods.
Where can we find March Flies
March flies inhabit most warm areas on daylight time. They become active when there is plenty of sunlight even in winter days. Their ideal place is the rotting vegetation or moist land. They can also be found in the tree holes to feed and hide their larvae. The cycle takes a few months depending on the temperature of the soil where they breed the eggs. After the adults are mating, they continue to seek blood meals for protein. Adults can live only a short period of time, up to 4 weeks.
Diseases caused by March Flies
March flies can cause several diseases to humans and livestocks. When they bite, many allergies can occur and the reaction is often seen a few days later. Sometimes the disease gets more severe and they have to be hospitalized. When these flies repeatedly biting the livestock, they can die due to blood loss. Some of the flies were reported to trigger symptoms like fever and hives.
The allergies occur due to the flies’ saliva. Mild aid includes applying ice pack or taking pain killer to relief the pain of bites. When the irritated spots are scratched, a person has to use antiseptic cream and even need to take antibiotics.
How to avoid march flies
March flies can’t be controlled but that does not mean it is impossible. It is important to stay far from the breeding sites of these flies. March flies are fond of dark shades like blue. Hence, this type of color must not be worn when you are in the area. Also, applying insect repellant is necessary way to avoid getting bitten by March flies. It gives a good protection. DEET or diethyl toluamide is one of the effective repellents that can draw March flies away. These are available in lotion. However, due to the chemical substance inside the DEET, it is important to apply according to the instructions especially when children use it.
Trapping the flies are also beneficial to reduce their population. In working places or schools, boards that are coated with adhesive can help to group and capture the flies so they won’t fly and spread diseases.
Natural ways to remove flies
- Flypaper strips
Fly ribbons is a device made from paper. It has a fragrance and it is sticky. This can trap flies as they are attracted to the paper and get stuck while flying on it. The flypapers contain poisonous substance that can be high in toxic. Hence, home owner must be aware of the strips when using them around their house. Flypapers can be made at home using efficient ingredients.
- cut wide strips from a card and punch holes on top of the strips
- mix sugar and water to create syrup
- coat the paper using the mixture of syrup
- hang the paper where flies are mostly seen
- Waterbag made from plastic
This is an unusual method to clear out the flies at home. You need a clear or transparent plastic bag and fill it with water. Hang the bag at the entrances like doors or garage. This is an interesting fact that flies visibility can be distorted when they see the waterbag. It can either be seen as spider web or something that are disoriented. This also explains why many fruit stalls are seen using the type of bags.
- Apple cider vinegar
Apple cider has that strong odor that can attract flies. This is why you can distract them instead of coming to the fruits, they will head to the apple cider vinegar. You can heat the vinegar to make a stronger odor that attracts the flies.
- Lavender oil
Lavender is not only a good repellent for the mosquitoes but also flies. It has an excellent property to draw flies away and protect your home from any diseases. Insects are not fond of the smell of lavender. This is why it prevents them from coming near. Lavender oil can also draws other animals away like beetles, white flies and green flies.
- Cloves
Another effective flies repellent is the cloves. They can’t stand of the smell because it is strong. This is why the cloves can eliminate flies better and faster. Use it with lemon or other citrus ingredients.
- Other herbs and spices
Basil is not only great for cooking but it can repel flies. The leaves can stop flies from making an entrance inside your home. You can tie dried basil leaves and hang it on top of windows or doors. Basil is great for anti bacterial agent so it can also treat mosquito bites too as an added benefits. Dried basil can be hung for a long period of time to eliminate flies.
When it comes to fly season, it is important to find reliable solution that is also environmentally friendly. The natural remedies can help to avoid any side effects due to the heavy use of chemical substance at home. Homemade remedies are absolutely affordable and you can use many kinds of things you find in your kitchen.
Removing flies from the home also means you are taking a good care of your family. It is by far, the most important thing to do. As we may not be able to stop them from breeding because they are part of the lifecycle, we can reduce the amount of flies that enter our home using prevention methods that can be used.