Oh Those Annoying Flies

It’s unlikely that you would have a backyard barbeque without visits from annoying house flies buzzing around your dinner plates, barbeque grill, and soda cans, trying to take a sip of a tasty treat.  These persistent pests won’t hesitate to make their way indoors through open doors, holes in window screens, or cracks or crevices, especially when the weather begins to turn a bit chilly.

They don’t bite, but are an annoying and familiar pest for humans. House flies are common pests that feed on decaying matter, fecal matter, spoiled foods, and discharges from wounds and sores.  Flies use their mouth parts to sponge up liquids, not solid food sources.  Solids are consumed by regurgitating saliva into the food and then ingesting it.  When flies land on food, drinks, or other sources, they regurgitate and excrete which allows them the opportunity to transmit a variety of disease organisms.  Scientists believe that house flies are capable of transmitting at least 65 diseases to humans.

House fly infestations are often large because of their quick life cycle.  The female house fly will deposit 100 to 150 eggs in decaying organic matter, preferably horse manure, but garbage or other animal waste will suffice.  The eggs will hatch in a day or two into white worm-like bugs called “maggots”.  Feeding on the material they were hatched in, the maggots will go through three larval molts, stop feeding, and go to drier surrounding areas where they pupate.  The pupa then changes into an adult house fly which will begin the mating cycle within one or two days from emerging from the pupal case.  The entire process can take as little as one week, which is why flies are often found in great abundance.

Because of the diseases that they can transmit, house fly populations should be controlled.  Remember to keep trash cans sealed shut, bring pet food indoors, clean up spills or leftover food, and keep yards clear of animal waste.  A NJ pest control expert like Allison Pest Control can help you keep house flies from bugging you!