Every year during the summer months, annoying flies invade your home. Why are there so many flies during summer? Flies are potential disease carriers, therefore getting rid of the summer fly problem is imperative. The two most likely summer culprits are…
- House flies – Adult houseflies grow to 8–12 millimetres (0.3–0.5 in) long. The thorax is gray or sometimes even black, with four longitudinal dark lines on the back. The whole body is covered with hair-like projections. The females are slightly larger than the males, and have a much larger space between their red compound eyes.
- Blow flies – The Calliphoridae (commonly known as blow flies, blow-flies, carrion flies, bluebottles, greenbottles, or cluster flies) are a family of insects in the order Diptera, with 1,100 known species. The maggot larvae, often used as fishing bait, are known as gentles.
These are aggressive invaders entering your home because they’re seeking a food source or they’ve already found one nearby. Both species thrive in bacteria-ridden areas, they carry that bacteria with them when they touch your food. This can transmit diseases to you when you eat the infected food, including salmonella, E. coli and cholera.
Breeding Cycles
House flies and blow flies share similar life cycles, with both reproducing only in the warmer months. They both look for disgusting places to lay their eggs; house flies prefer animal feces or garbage, while blow flies lean toward the bodies of dead animals.
- When the eggs were laid in or near your house, they often fly around inside to seek food and a place to lay more eggs.
- In seven to 14 days, these eggs can complete the life cycle through larva and pupa to adult.
Common places for house flies to lay eggs inside your home is in your garbage can. Blow flies likely come from animals such as squirrels and mice that die inside your walls, under your crawl space or near your home’s foundation, although they also breed in animal feces.
When the flies are inside it’s often difficult to get out. They fly toward the light of windows, but when the windows are closed, the flies can’t escape.
House flies can lay eggs inside your garbage can before you even know you have a problem. They gravitate toward sugary liquids for food, but they’ll also land on anything sitting out, including meat, which blow flies also enjoy.
Control
Many insecticides aren’t effective against flies because they breed so quickly; the eggs hatch shortly after you kill the existing adults.
- Sticky fly strips to catch the adults. Placing them near windows or light sources works best.
- Fly swatters also are effective, but disinfect the area where you smashed the fly to ensure no nasty bacteria is left behind.
- Screening all windows and closing exterior doors quickly can help keep flies out.
- The flies will disappear when cold weather hits, but house flies might leave eggs to overwinter and invade your house next summer.
Hopefully this post will help explain why you have so many flies during summer and help keep your home pest free. Lawn Pest Control strives to provide the most informative and easy explanation for annoying pest. In addition we also maintain and provide lawn care and garden solutions.
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