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House Fly Identification
The common House fly is medium sized (1/6 to 1/4 inch long.
The common house fly, is a pest all over the world. The adult has the
fourth wing vein sharply angled and four length-wise dark stripes on the
top of the thorax.
Its face has two velvety tripes which are silver above and gold below.
The female fly has a much wider space between the eyes than the male.
The house fly is often confused with the face fly which also infests structures.
The face fly is similar in appearance, but a little larger and darker.
Biology and Habits of the House
Fly:
Life cycle of a House Fly
Each adult female begins laying eggs a few days after hatching, laying
a total of five to six batches of 75 to 100 small., white oval eggs.
In warm weather these hatch in 12 to 24 hours into cream-colored larvae
which burrow into the food material on which they hatched. These larvae
grow and pupate in 4 to 7 days in warm weather.
The mature larva contracts until its skin forms a case about 1/4 inch
long. Inside this case, the true pupa forms.When fully formed, the adult
fly breaks open the end of the pupal case and emerges. It is ready to
mate within in a few hours after merging. The hardened larval skin which
is left behind still exhibits most of the characteristics which are used
in larval identification; thus determination can often be made on the
basis of the skin alone.
During warm weather two or more generations may be completed in a month.
Normally the population builds up and is greatest in early fall months.
The method of over wintering is not well understood, but in some areas
populations develop indoors throughout the winter.
House fly eggs are laid in almost any warm moist material which will furnish
suitable food for the growing larvae. Animal manure, human excrement,
garbage, decaying vegetable material and ground contaminated with such
organic mater are suitable materials.
Although they are attracted to a wide variety of food materials, house
flies have mouthparts which enable them to ingest only liquid materials.
Solid materials are liquefied by means of regurgitated saliva. This liquefied
food is then drawn up by the mouthparts and passed onto the digestive
tract.
During daylight hours house flies will rest on floors, walls and ceilings
indoors. Outdoors they will rest on plants, on the ground, on fence wires,
garbage cans and other similar surfaces. At night they will rest principally
on ceilings, electric wires and dangling light cords indoors. In all situations
they prefer corners and edges or thin objects such as wires and strings.
Night resting places are usually near daytime sources of food and are
usually 5 to 15 feet off the ground.
Inspection for House
Flies
Inside:
Trash cans-possible breeding sites
Outside-breeding sites:
House Flies may be found feeding and breeding in fresh manure, rotting
fruits and vegetables, damp garbage and damp, decaying organic materials
that are located outside of the structure.
Most of the time, when you find house flies inside, it is because they
are coming inside the structures.
Check cracks around windows, doors and vents as possible entry points.
It is important to find out where the breeding sources are located and
how they are entering the buildings.
Rural areas where farms are present may be more problematic for number
of breeding sites than areas in a uban setting.
In residential areas, pet manure which is not picked up regularly can
be a breeding source for house flies.
Recommended Control and Elimination Measures for House Flies
1. Exclusion
and Sanitation:
- Sanitation
is the first measure of defense, even though there are various traps
and sprays that are used to kill flies, it is necessary to eliminate
the source in order to eliminate them.
- Whenever
possible, food and materials on which the flies can lay their eggs must
be removed, destroyed, as a breeding medium, or isolated from the egg-laying
adult. Killing adult flies will reduce infestation, but elimination
of breeding areas is necessary for good management.
- The key
to controlling these infestations is to locate and eliminate their breeding
sources.
- Garbage
cans and dumpsters should have tight-fitting lids and be cleaned regularly.
- Drainage
will often aid control, getting rid of extra moisture.
- Openings
of buildings should be tightly screened with screen.
2. Insecticides : Residual, Aerosols, and Fogging
House flies rest on sunny surfaces in the daytime, and have a tendency
to come inside or under eaves at night. These areas where the flies are
resting can be sprayed with residual or contact insecticides.
The flies rest on the sprayed surface and pick up enough insecticide to
kill them.
When spraying the surfaces, it should be wet enough to the point of runoff,
but not enough to form puddles.
Recommended residual Insecticides:
 Cyper
WP is a wettable powder, mixed with water to spray exterior
surfaces where flies would land, sprayed once a month. Wettable powders will show up visible on dark surfaces
Use  D-Fense SC , if you are concerned about the visiblity on dark surfaces.
Cyper WP or D-Fense SC would work equally well for fly control.
Aerosols:
Hand held space sprays for a quick knock down would be pyrethrin contact
aerosols:
A space
spray 
CB 80 Pyrethrin Aerosol
(Pyrethrin
spray) can be used as a quick kill, reducing populations of flying
insects.
 On Time Aerosol
 Automatic Dispenser is an automatic dispenser to be used
with the the V Tech Mist Metered Insect Killer.
The On Time Automatic aerosol will last 30 days.
Fogging Insecticides-Non Residual
If you find that fogging inside a building would be neccessary, we also
carry fogging material and professional fogger equipment:
Fogging Compounds and Equipment
3. Trapping-Glue and Outside
Catchmaster Gold Sticks Fly Glue Trap Paper
Catchmaster Gold Sticks M 962 are long tubes with a sticky glue and fly pheromone attractant for capturing and killing house flies and other nuisance flies
 Window Fly Trap-allows you to use a trap to stick on the window, without
using an insecticide.
 Fly Ribbon Catchers( ribbon length-about 2 feet)
 Catchmaster Disposable Fly Trap is an excellent trap for the outside, with a unique attractant
lure included.
It will trap house flies, blow flies and a broad range of other fly species.
Place the Catchmaster disposable fly traps and the fly baits
away from areas that you want to see flies, in that they have attractants
that will draw the flies.
You will want to place the outside Cathmaster Disposable Fly Trap disposable trap in sunny area on cooler days
and shady areas on warmer days.
These electronic
fly traps are very efficient and functional to be used inside only.
Click Here: All
Electronic Fly Traps
4. Recommended Fly Baits :
Insecticide granule baits such as Bonanza Fly Bait or Maxforce Fly Bait
Fly Bait can be used to aid in house-fly control.
The baits should be distributed along walls, window sills or other areas
where flies congregate inside buildings, and in areas outside where flies
congregate.
 Maxforce Fly Spot Bait is a convenient form of Maxforce Fly Bait, where you are may spray in on a surface.
As with all fly control, sanitation is very important when using a fly
bait. Remove trash and other breeding sources, so the Fly bait will be
there only feeding source.
Make sure the baits are inaccessible to animals or children.
Recommended
fly baits would be:
 Use Apache Fly Bait Stations to hold the Fly Baits
Place the Catchmaster Fly Trap disposable fly traps and the fly baits
away from areas that you want to see flies, in that they have attractants
that will draw the flies.
You will want to place the outside Catchmaster Fly Trap in sunny area on cooler days
and shady areas on warmer days. Call for further information as each situation is very different with
perhaps different product recommendations.
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