Getting rid of flies in your home is probably a priority. They are mostly a nuisance and quite obnoxious to be around. Knowing what they are generally attracted to also makes them a disgusting insect.
Interesting Facts About Flies
- Being small in stature, houseflies usually only grow to a 1/4 of an inch long.
- Normally gray, they also have 4 dark stripes on the back side of their bodies.
- Houseflies only have 1 pair of membranous wings, unlike other flying insects. They also include a second pair of miniature wings that resemble drumsticks. Those wings are known as halters and are used to help keep the fly balanced during flight.
- Houseflies flap their wings 200 times per second and fly at about 5 miles per hour.
- Houseflies produce a sticky resin so they can stick to the surface after landing.
- With their poor eyesight, they have a red compound in their eyes. Each eye has 4000 lenses to enhance visual variations of pictures. This doesn’t help their eyesight, however.
- They rely on their sense of smell for food, which is achieved through their antennas.
- Favoring sugary liquids and various organic waste to balance their diet.
- Houseflies have no teeth, so all of their food gets broken down into a liquid for their consumption. Spitting digestive juices on their food allows them to eat.
- Houseflies carry bacteria, usually of the pathogenic group. Some the diseases flies can transmit are gangrene, tuberculosis, dysentery, anthrax, and the plague.
- Their high volume of transmitting disease is due to the fact they defecate every few minutes.
- Sleeping during the night, most of their activity is done throughout the day.
- Females lay their eggs on the food they are feeding on and lay approximately 2,500 eggs a day. Throughout their metamorphosis, the stages are as dictates: egg will evolve into larvae, larvae will transform into a pupa, and a pupa then becomes an adult. The transformation and growth process takes 10 days.
- Houseflies can live anywhere between 30-60 days.
- They usually stay within a 1-2 mile radius of where they were raised but have been known to travel up to about 20 miles in search of food.
Getting Rid of Flies
We hope that was an interesting lesson on houseflies. Remember the best way to keep these pests from taking over your home is to take the garbage out regularly, keep your home clean, keep tabs on the cleanup of pet waste and keep mesh screens on your windows and doors if you enjoy opening them in nice weather.
Croach® has a broad spectrum of services to help in the quest of keeping your home pest free. With our trained professionals, state of the art equipment and top of the line pesticides, our experts can eliminate current pests, and deter others from intruding.
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