Flies
Control
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As with other insects, Flies are a significant vector of disease. All flies are “toothless” and eat a liquid diet; commonly rotting organic matter or blood. There are various types of “Biting” flies, all of which pierce the skin of the victim then lap up their blood.
Some of the more common species of Fly which Dead Cert Pest Control can help you with are listed below:
Lesser House Fly (Fannia Canicularis)
Approximately seven generations can develop per year.
They are often found on excrement (they are particularly associated with chicken farms) and on vertebrate animal. Because of their oscillating between excrement and human food the species is considered as possible disease carriers.
From May to October the small housefly comes frequently into buildings and is noticeable here by its peculiar, silent flight in the room centre, where it circles down-hanging articles, particularly lamps. It changes the flight direction jerkily. This is a patrol flight, in which the males supervise if necessary their district and intruders attack. During short breaks and in the night hours the flies sit on lamps or on walls and leave their small excrement marks. In the wild tree branches serve the flies for their swarm dances.
House Fly (Musca Domestica)
The housefly (or common housefly), is the most common of all domestic flies, accounting for about 91% of all flies in human habitations, and indeed one of the most widely distributed insects, found all over the world; it is considered a pest that can carry serious diseases. They are capable of carrying over 100 pathogens, such as those causing typhoid, cholera, salmonellae, bacillary dysentery, tuberculosis, anthrax, ophthalmia, and parasitic worms. Some strains have become immune to most common insecticides.
House flies feed on liquid or semi liquid substances beside solid material which has been softened by saliva or vomit. Because of their high intake of food, they deposit faeces constantly, one of the factors that make the insect a dangerous carrier of pathogens. Although they are domestic flies, usually confined to the human habitations, they can fly for several miles from the breeding place. They are active only in daytime, and rest at night, e.g., at the corners of rooms, ceiling hangings, cellars, and barns, where they can survive the coldest winters by hibernation, and when spring arrives, adult flies are seen only a few days after the first thaw.
Blowflies (Calliphoridae)
Calliphoridae (commonly known as blow-flies, carrion flies, bluebottles, greenbottles, or cluster flies) are a family with 1,100 known species. The name blow-fly comes from an older English term for meat that had eggs laid on it, which was said to be fly- blown. Adult’s vector pathogens of diseases such as dysentery and have frequently have been associated with disease transmission in humans and animals. Their larvae, commonly seen on decaying bodies, feed on carrion while the adults can be or vegetative. During the process of decay, microorganisms (e.g. mycobacterium) may be released through the body. Flies arrive at the scene and lay their eggs. The larvae begin eating and breaking down the corpse simultaneously ingesting these organisms which is the first step of one transmission route. Para-tuberculosis in cattle, pigs and birds has been isolated and recovered from these flies through several different experiments. Other potential vectors and threatening diseases include Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease Virus and fly strike. Although strike is not limited to blow flies; these maggots are a major source of this skin invasion causing lesions, and if severe enough, may be lethal. Strike starts when blow-flies lay eggs in a wound or faecal material present on the sheep. When the maggots hatch, they begin feeding on the sheep and thus irritating it. Salmonellae has also been proven to be transmitted by the blow fly through saliva, faeces and tarsi. Adult flies may be able to spread pathogens via their sponging mouth parts, vomit, intestinal tract, sticky pads of their feet or even their body or leg hairs.
Cluster Fly (Pollenia Rudis)
The common cluster fly, is a species in the family Calliphoridae it is also known as the attic fly, the loft fly and the buckwheat fly. During the autumn and winter months, they can be found overwintering inside of attics or lofts. This sluggish species can be found “clustering” near the interior windows of a warm after having overwintered in the structure in “fist sized” balls, most commonly in the attic/roof space.
Their eggs are laid in soil, the larvae being a parasite dependant on the earthworm, essentially eating it alive their growth. They then pupate in the soil before hatching as adults. Around the time of the first frosts they then look for a place to overwinter. The flies will inhabit the old tunnels created by past insects. They can also be found in old bird nests, under the bark of trees, or in homes and will overwinter until spring, living off of its own fat. It is in the spring, when temperatures begin to rise, when it is usually first spotted around an second story window as it descends through the wall cavities.
Fruit Fly (Drosophila Sp.)
Drosophila is a genus of small flies, belonging to the family Drosophilidae, whose members are often called “fruit flies” or (less frequently) pomace flies, vinegar flies, or wine flies or bar flies, a reference to the characteristic of many species to linger around overripe or rotting fruit. The entire genus, however, contains more than 1,500 species and is very diverse in appearance, behaviour, and breeding habitat.
Typically they lay their eggs in fermenting (or ready fermented) vegetable matter. As they have a very short life cycle of less than one week removing the breeding sites is key to successfully controlling this pest species. As without doing this effective control cannot be guaranteed.