Flies

HOW TO IDENTIFY FLIES


Many people often tend to ignore the obvious signs and indications of an infestation. What may initially seem to be few just a few flies may later turn into a full-fledged infestation in no time.

Female flies are rather fast in the process of reproduction and usually lay many eggs at a time. If they find a suitable location to lay these eggs in your house, for instance near the trash can, then your house will likely be infested very soon. There are several aspects to fly infestations. Let us discover a few.

Appearance

How to get rid of fruit flies

These are the most common species found on Earth and are gray in color. The minimum length of a house fly is about 4 millimeters while the maximum is about 8 millimeters. On noticing the fly’s upper body, a couple of stripes in dark gray can be

When it comes to their behavior, house flies are usually observed resting on floors, walls, ceilings, etc and they choose these locations based on the availability of food sources. When they are outdoors, they usually sit on trash or plants. They have also been gifted with flight and can easily fly as high as 8 kilometers. These flies prefer breeding during the summers and stop when winter approaches.

They usually survive by feeding on organic matter and other different liquids. A flies mouth is built in such a way that it facilitates the intake of semi-liquid and liquid food items.

Signs

The basic signs of an obvious infestation would be an increase in the number of flies in your house. If you spot a few flies, it does not necessarily indicate an infestation. However, seeing many flies at the same time could be due to a fly infestation.

Another sign that can easily be spotted are clusters of eggs laid by female flies. These eggs are usually found at places that are moist and unhygienic. So if you spot these eggs near your kitchen counter or trash, there is a chance that your house is infested.

A person looking for an infestation could also do so by keeping an eye on the presence of maggots. These are white worms which look like worms and can be commonly found in homes that are infested. These maggots are attracted to nutrients such as manure.

HOW DO YOU GET FLIES


deer fly

You may have noticed an increase in the number of flies in the environment while approaching the summer. Many people wonder what attracts these creatures to their house and what makes them stay. An important cause is breeding. Flies usually lay eggs near the garbage can in your house as they look for a location that is moderately moist and filthy as well so that they get a food source with ease. Blow flies are more interested in the dead animals in your house. These may include dead squirrels found between the walls of your home.

After the flies enter your house through cracks and crevices, they stay indoors mostly because they can’t find a way to go out again. They are attracted towards a few sugary liquids and may start breeding even before you know.

HOW TO GET RID OF FLIES


In order to get rid of these annoying creatures, all you have to do is take a couple of steps to prevent an infestation. The most basic way to do this is by shutting all doors as well as windows of your house. This will help restrain their entry in the first place. An alternate way to do this is by screening all vents and entryways in your house. Flies are also attracted to trash so don’t litter and keep the garbage area as clean as possible. This will ensure that they don’t pay you a visit anytime soon. Cleanliness and hygiene is the key to keep flies at bay.

If your house has already been infested then none of the preventive measures will be of any use. In this case, you can contact a local pest management company for assistance. They have qualified individuals holding a license in carrying out these activities.


LIFE CYCLE OF FLIES


An adult female fly has the capability of laying as many as 2000 eggs during the entire course of their lifetime. At a time these females can lay around 75 eggs only in moist spots like garbage, etc. It takes the eggs only 24 hours to hatch and come out in the form of maggots. Maggots constitute the stage of larva in the life cycle of flies. They are pale and measure to a maximum of 8 millimeters in total.

The maggots usually require a cool and dry place to achieve the next stage in which they turn into pupae. These pupae are in the shape of a barrel and have a reddish-brown color coating. The pupae take three to four weeks to develop into adults which is the last stage of their life. Their lifespan is only about a month.


PURPOSE OF FLIES IN THE ECOSYSTEM


A lot of people wonder what purpose could creatures as annoying as flies have in the ecosystem. Like other pests, even flies form an important part of the environment we live in. Without them, some plants would never be able to pollinate. While bees are attracted to pretty flowers and help them pollinate, flies drink nectar from some plants which smell horrible and are very rare. This helps these rare plants perform pollination which is extremely important.

Apart from this, flies are also part of the food chain and play an important role in the prey-predator cycle. They eat tiny insects and are themselves consumed by spiders, lizards and other such animals. They also facilitate the process of decomposing organic matter. Without them, decomposition would be a slow process.

Flies are also commonly referred to as disease vectors as they contaminate food items and spread several diseases.

These flies are part of the order Diptera and are few of the earliest pollinators on Earth.


FLIES FACTS:


Flies are an extremely interesting creature with great abilities.

  • Flies are gifted with “compound eyes” and these eyes allow them to track movements with great ease. It can also help them track any change in the pattern of lights.
  • Flies are also extremely stable insects when it comes to flight owing to their short hind legs.
  • Unlike humans, when flies are small it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re young too. This may mean that they weren’t provided with adequate nutrition during the larval stage.
  • An amazing fact about them is that they defecate every four to five minutes which means they do so nearly 300 times a day. They can also beat their wings 200 times in one single minute.

Types of flies

Blowfly

how to identify a blowfly

Bottle Fly

How to identify bottle flies

Drain Flies

Drain Fly

Fruit Flies

fruit flies on fruit

Gnat

Gnat

Housefly

Common Housefly

Phorid Flies

Phorid Flies

Flies articles

[catlist name=”flies”]