22073310
- All flies belong to the insect order Diptera, which means two wings.
- All flies undergo complete metamorphosis with egg, larva, pupa, and adult stages in their development
- Flies perform a vital function as decomposers of dead organisms, manure and decaying vegetation
- Flies may act as carriers of disease organisms present in their breeding and egg-laying sites
- These disease organisms can cause food poisoning, diarrhea, dysentery or typhoid fever
TYPES OF FLIES
BLOW FLY
- Adult flies are metallic blue, green, copper or black colored flies that otherwise resemble house flies in appearance
- Common species include the greenbottle flies (Lucilia spp.), black blow fly (Phormia regina), and various Calliphora species
- Lay their eggs on the carcasses of dead animals, decaying meat or garbage that contains meat scraps
- Large numbers of blow flies occur when a dead animal - usually a mouse or squirrel - dies within the home
- Although such occurrences are unpleasant, they are usually short-lived and self-limiting, as the insects are only capable of breeding on freshly killed animals
HOUSE FLY
- The house fly is the most common fly pest around homes
- House flies generally are gray, with the thorax marked with four dark stripes
- Female flies lay numbers of eggs in suitable larval food sources such as decomposing food in garbage, animal excrement or other decomposing organic materials
- The adult flies feed on a wide range of liquid waste but can eat solid foods, such as sugar
- To digest solid foods, house flies liquefy food by regurgitating it and thereby are ideally suited to mechanically transmit disease organisms such as diarrhea and dysentery, to people
STABLE FLY
- Stable flies are also called biting house flies
- The stable fly is a about ¼-inch long and gray with four dark stripes on its thorax
- This fly looks like a house fly, except for the pointed proboscis beneath its head through which it sucks blood
- They typically bite in early morning or late afternoon and often attack the ankles, inflicting a sharp, stabbing pain
- Stable flies lay eggs in piles of rotting vegetable matter, such as haystacks, grass clippings, manure and vegetation along shorelines
FLESH FLY
- Flesh flies are gray with three dark stripes on its thorax
- They are slightly larger than house flies and have a checkerboard pattern on the abdomen
- Flesh flies are attracted to sources of decay around the home, including garbage dumpsters, compost piles and dead animal carcasses
- Flesh flies are helpful in forensic entomology because they are usually the first to arrive at a carcass after an animal dies
- Flesh-flies can carry leprosy bacilli and can transmit intestinal pseudomyiasis to people who eat the flesh-fly larvae
VINEGAR FLY/FRUIT FLY
- Vinegar flies are small, slow-flying insects usually found in association with over-ripened fruit and vegetables, and are sometimes inaccurately called fruit flies
- Vinegar fly adults vary from 3 to 4 mm in length, have reddish eyes, are light yellowish brown to dark brown in colour,and may have darker markings on the dorsum of the thorax in the form of spots, blotches, or lines
- Vinegar flies are common nuisance pests in restaurants, grocery stores, fruit markets, canneries, homes, and other locations that may attract these insects with fermenting or rotting vegetative matter
SOME OF THE COMMON PROBLEMS CAUSED BY FLIES ARE:
Some of the most common house Fly diseases transmitted in the U.S. include food
poisoning, dysentery, and diarrhea. These pests may also transmit the eggs of
parasitic worms, which cause their own issues.
House flies can cause a huge threat to businesses, especially those operating within
the food industry. Compared to other pests such as rodents and cockroaches, flies
are responsible for causing the highest number of staff illnesses. But why is this?
Well, house flies (along with other species of filth flies) are known to spread a
range of harmful diseases. The World Health Organization estimates that house flies
are responsible for transmitting at least 65 diseases. These diseases can have an
impact on both customer and staff health, resulting in damages to income, brand
reputation and staff retention. House flies are known to carry and spread these
diseases:
- 1. Cholera
- 2. Conjunctivitis
- 3. Dysentery
- 4. Gastroenteritis
- 5. Salmonellosis
- 6. Tuberculosis
- 7. Typhoid fever
They transmit this range due to their feeding and breeding habits. House flies will
often feed on rotting or decaying matter, as well as human and animal faeces. When a
house fly feast upon an item of food infected with bacteria they accumulate the
pathogen within their oesophagus or digestive system.
Due to a house flies feeding habit of regurgitating their stomach contents onto
solid objects to liquify them, any bacteria living in their oesophagus will be
transmitted to the item they are consuming. Similarly the bacteria living within
their digestive system will be transmitted to items which they defecate on through
their faeces.
Areas where these products are found, the items themselves, as well as their
preferred breeding sites, can often play host to the pathogens which cause the
diseases. Because of this house flies can accumulate the bacteria on the tiny hairs
on their legs and body. When a fly lands on a food product, or any other item, any
pathogen which has attached itself to said hairs can easily be transmitted.