The most common fly that can be found in homes and businesses is the common house fly, these can grow to around 8-12 mm long and usually live between fifteen and twenty-five days. The body is covered with what looks like hair, they have two compound eyes and as with all insects they have six legs. The other active stage is the maggot stage of the life cycle.
Life Cycle of a Fly
The development of flies involves a four-phase life cycle; starting with eggs, flies undergo larval and pupae stages before emerging as adults. An entire life cycle may span across six to ten days under favourable conditions. An adult fly can lay as many as 500 eggs in its life time of up to twenty-five days and once laid the eggs will hatch around ten to twenty-four hours later. It then takes around three to seven days before the maggots are fully grown, at which stage they enter the pupae stage where the maggot transforms into the adult fly. Adult flies are ready to mate within thirty-six hours after emerging from the pupa case.
Habits
Flies will lay eggs wherever a food source is present; this can be where there is exposed food such as garbage bins and compost heaps. When feeding, house flies regurgitate liquid from the stomach to dissolve food and then use their sponging mouth parts to suck it up.
Damage caused by Flies
Because of their feeding habits flies can spread diseases such as Salmonella, Staphylococcus, E. coli and Shigella. The fly’s maggots can also destroy food products making them unusable for human consumption.
Flies Pest Control
Sanitation is the best method to eliminate fly infestation. Usage of indoor fly traps or sticky tape helps in controlling fly population inside the house. The garbage cans should be sealed with lids and waste should be wrapped properly before disposing in the garbage can. Plain boiling water is an excellent way to kill maggots in garbage cans.
