Fly Control and Removal

Flies are a pest; there is no doubt about that. They buzz around our heads and it takes a very patient person not to get enraged by their presence. There are many types of fly though the most commonly annoying to humans in the UK is the house fly and the larger, dirtier, blue bottle.

The following is a list of different types of flies and their habits:

• The Common House Fly is found in almost all types of premises. It breeds in moist, decaying compost and eggs are laid in batches of 120 to 150. They hatch in as quickly as 8 hours or 3 days at the latest. The larvae takes from 3 days to 2 months to mature and a further 3 days to a month o pupate so it is no wonder that there are so many flies buzzing about their business.

• The Lesser House Fly grows to 6mm in length. It has faint black stripes on its back and it breeds in semi=liquid decaying organic matter.

• The Bluebottle grows to quite a large fly from 6-12mm in length and is distinguished by its metallic blue colour. Blue Bottle eggs hatch within 0 – 18 hrs and larvae only take from 7 – 12 days to mature. They breed in meats and sometimes cheese. They swarm to dead rodents, birds and other small pests. They are a particularly unhygienic and dirty fly, which is very bothersome in the summer.

• The Cluster Fly has overlapping wings and is a dark greyish green colour. It lays its eggs in soil and the larva develops in earthworms.

• The Fruit Fly is very small at only 3mm in length. It is a yellow–brown colour with bright red eyes. It flies slowly and tends to hover. The fruit fly develops to adult state within a week to a month and then only lives for 2 to 9 weeks. The fruit fly gets its name from its habits. It likes to breed in fermenting residues such as wines and beers in pubs, fruit, vegetables or breweries.

• The Filter Fly is even tinier than the fruit fly at only 2mm in length. It has very hairy wings and its eggs hatch within 6 days. It is often found in sewage beds where the larvae thrive.

• The Vinegar Fly is another small fly of about 3mm in length. The female can lay up to 500 eggs and is a very fast breeder, with a short life cycle.

• The Horse Fly can be as big as 25mm in length and is a dark brown or black colour with very dark eyes. The horse fly bit can be very sore; it has mouthparts like miniature knives which cut into the skin like a pair of scissors. Horse flies mate in flight and complete their copulation on the ground where the female then deposits her egg mass of between 100 and 1000 eggs. They are considered an agricultural pest because they are bad for attacking livestock and reducing their weight gain.

• The Crane Fly is grey–brown and slender but considerably long at 60mm. Their legs are very slim and lengthy. The Crane Fly Larvae are grey, brown or cream and look like worms. They are commonly known as leatherjackets and eat on roots. They live by a pond or lake, near to water for up to five years. They then pupate and emerge as adults, when they no longer feed, bite or sting.

• Lacewings are a type of fly which flutters in flight with lace like wings. They are very beneficial to the environment and don’t tend to be considered much of a pest. The adults are between 12 and 20mm long, pale green with long antennae and bright, golden eyes. Their eggs are oval shaped and laid at the end of long silken stalks. These single eggs start off green and turn grey after a few days. The newly hatched larvae are grey or brownish. They are alligator-like with well-developed legs and large pincers with which they suck the body fluids from prey insects such as aphids.

• The Autumn Fly females are pretty much identical to the common house fly, but males have an orange abdomen with black mark down the centre. They breed in animal dung in fields and undergo complete metamorphosis through distinct egg, larva, pupal and adult stages. Their complete lifecycle only lasts between 10 and 20 days. These flies annoy horses and cattle by attacking their faces.

• The Sand Fly is pale grey with brown eyes and reddish legs. It appears from April to September and lives on sandy riverbanks.

• The Whitefly is between 1.5 – 3mm in length. They are white and resemble wedge–shaped moths. Their eggs hatch on leaves within 10 days and there they settle to feed and pupate. They are considered pests because the suck the sap from plants.

• Tsetse Flies reproduce up to four times a year. They feed on human or animal blood and are associated with the transmition of protozoan parasites linked with diseases in animals and people, including Sleeping Sickness.

Dealing with Flies in the home:

Whether you feel you are fighting a never-ending battle with a few annoying flies or an entire infestation of these nuisance critters, then there are a few things you can do to ensure you win.

Allowing spiders to live in your home is a good way to keep the fly population in check but not exactly a popular option with most spider-fearing individuals.

The Venus flytrap is a carnivorous plant that catches and digests animal prey, including flies. When a fly crawls along the leaves and comes into contact with one or more of the hairs twice in succession, the trap closes. They are quite decorative and functional too.

You could hang bags of water outside any entrance into the home which farmers use to keep flies away, as the reflection of light in the water makes the flies think of spider’s webs.

Household refuse is the biggest attraction to flies and therefore it is important that you regularly dispose of rubbish in a secure way and discourage them from appearing in the first place.

Seal up screens of windows or doors, and seal cracks in windows and doors with weather strips to prevent these irritating little things from getting in.

To stop the flies breeding you should remove, dispose, or simply seal up all organic waste piles and dead pest bodies from in and around the home or house, as these places are usually used as breeding grounds for the little cretins.

To counter any fly attacks, there are some things that can be used to aid in your defence. One of these things is flypaper, which is sure to catch some of them. Then there is masking tape or scotch tape, pretty much the same thing as the flypaper.

Homemade fly trap attractions include combining corn syrup with granulated sugar, then cut strips from a paper bag that are about 2 inches wide and about 18 inches long, and dip them in your sugary concoction, hang it up like shop-bought-flypaper, and viola!

Alternatively you could use a traditional flyswatter, but that can end up driving you up the wall, when you can’t catch them. You could opt for an electric flyswatter which works in the background.

There are also many fly sprays and insecticides on the market that can be bought from hardware stores and the Internet. These don’t usually smell very nice and can affect young children.

At the end of the day, if your house is full of flies and you are unable to get rid of them with traditional methods, you really ought to contact the professionals before they drive you over the edge with their irritating habit of buzzing around your head.