Do Flies Bite And Spread Diseases?
Do flies bite? The answer is yes, flies bite both animals and humans. They do this in order to acquire a meal of blood for benefits such as a nutritious diet. These meals are needed to continue the life cycle of flies. People usually don’t realize how dangerous these bites can end up being. Let’s try to understand about which flies bite and the consequences from them.
Which Flies Bite People?
Mosquitoes are actually a type of fly. Their name is Spanish for “small fly”. Mosquitoes are known to bite people to end up giving them the most dangerous and easily recognizable fly bites. Mosquitoes easily account for a maximum number of human deaths almost every year, beating all the other animals. The reason why mosquitoes drink blood is not to just survive but to reproduce or lay eggs in a better way. Mosquito bites are easy to recognize, they look like white/pinkish bumps on the skin. These bites are often extremely itchy and they cause irritation to the skin. Later on, it may turn into a tiny red bump and sometimes the bump may also have a black spot towards the center.
Mosquito
In sub-tropical and tropical areas, people are often bitten by female flies of the species referred to as the “sandflies”. The sandflies are about an eighth of an inch and can easily leave red blisters and bumps. They also cause transmission of a type of parasitic disease called leishmaniasis.
Sandfly having a blood meal
Areas with a lot of lakes or swamps have the deer flies that go around biting people. These flies are a quarter inch to half an inch long with a characteristic feature of golden or green eyes. These flies will mostly bother you during hot climate. Deer flies use parts of their mouth to cut through your skin to drink your blood. This may be particularly painful and may even lead to the fatal disease of rabbit fever.
Deer Fly | By Judy Gallagher – , CC BY 2.0,
Other species that bite people are black flies, stable flies, and horse flies. The common housefly is not known to bite.
Is It Always Easy To Spot Flies?
Flies may not always be the noisiest and clumsiest creatures. Some flies that may bite you may not be visible to the naked eye. A common type that isn’t visible is the biting midges which can rarely be spotted. These flies are extremely tiny and measure only about an eighth of one inch. You can try using a fine mesh to keep these flies away from your house. The only visible sign of these flies are the bites they leave. It is also extremely tough to kill them since they are rarely visible.
Biting Midge. These flies are very hard to spot and they bite.
How Does One Avoid Or Deal With Biting Flies?
If you know the time these biting flies are mostly active at, you can easily avoid them. Few flies are active during dawn or dusk, especially in summers. Others are active at day. Try staying indoors during such times and you will successfully avoid their bites or contact a pest control professional to deal with the problem.
Many flies bite and cause tons of health-related hazards
Here are a few common flies that bite and the diseases they transfer.
Sand Fly Bites
These flies, an eighth of one inch, are usually hairy and have wings that are shades of grey and brown. Sand flies often keep wings in the shape of “V” over their bodies and are active during dawn or dusk. Their larvae resemble worms.
They like breeding in areas with moisture like swamps and moss. They feed on tree sap and nectar. However, females also enjoy human blood.
Sand flies commonly bite people who will develop red blisters and even bumps. These are extremely painful and itchy and can also cause dermatitis or inflammation of the skin. They are known to transmit parasitic diseases to people.
Sandfly Bites. By André Schütte, CC BY-SA 3.0,
Tsetse Fly Bite
They measure nearly up to fifteen millimeters and have a forward-pointing mouth. They are usually found in Africa and like places that are wooden and shady. Their bites are painful as well and may cause sleeping sickness to humans and animals as well. Symptoms of sleeping sickness usually include severe headaches, muscle aches, and fever.
You must contact your doctor for blood tests to check for the same. If you have sleeping sickness, then you must follow the medication provided by your doctor.
Tsetse Fly
Deer Fly Bite
These are brown or black in color with wings that are transparent. They have small round heads with golden eyes on them. The deer flies are active during the time of spring and their larvae look similar to those of maggots.
They can spread rabbit fever which may even prove to be fatal. This may lead to ulcers on skin, headache, and fever.
Black Fly Bites
These flies are very small and have short antennae. Their wings are big and in the shape of fans. In areas of South America and Africa, these flies transfer “river blindness”. The symptoms may lead to headaches, nausea or fever.
The Process of Flies Transmitting Illness
Flies either transmit illness through their vomit or feces or by simply biting the victim. Flies often sit on garbage and trash and acquire germs from there. They then head to your food and transfer them there. Also sometimes flies vomit and secrete body fluids in order to leave pathogens there. People eating this contaminated food will end up with diseases.
When individuals modify their habitats, they reduce their chances of getting any disease transmitted by flies. The first step in control and prevention is to eliminate the sites for breeding. You can start by clearing all animal droppings, try washing your carpets more often and dispose of any fruit or vegetable that may be rotting.
Also, you can use electrical fans or fly traps to keep the flies at bay. Placing screens on doors will also help to bar them from entering.
If prevention doesn’t succeed, it is important for you to contact a pest control firm that will send professionals over to take care of the flies.
More Flies Facts
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