This can cause a problem as fruit flies can pick up harmful bacteria from your trash and other unsanitary locations and distribute that bacteria to your food-prep surfaces, your food items, and even the rim of the cup you're drinking from if they land on them.
House flies pick up bacteria, fungi, and viruses and then spread these pathogens by contaminating food and water. Several health problems can develop from house fly infestations. These include food poisoning, dysentery, and tuberculosis. Regular cleaning will limit areas where house flies are able to breed.
Therefore, if you find that you suddenly have a lot of flies in your house, chances are there's decaying matter somewhere. No matter how clean you keep your house, you probably have something rotting somewhere. For example, garbage cans and garbage disposals. These spots are prime breeding sites for flies.
Fly occurrence is seasonal, and really only serious for two or three months in the early summer, depending on which part of the country you are in. In southern Australia bush flies die in winter. Each spring the areas are populated again by immigrant flies from the north, transported by strong winds.
Scents that they're particularly opposed to are the strong, pungent odors, like clove, lavender, mint, lemongrass, eucalyptus, rosemary and citronella. Apply a few drops of these oils to strips of cloth to make DIY fly paper, or spray your deck and patio to keep flies away from the periphery of your home.
A mixture of apple cider vinegar and dish soap can help you trap flies and kill them. Mix about an inch of apple cider vinegar and a few drops of dish soap in a tall glass. Cover the glass with plastic wrap, secure it with a rubber band and poke small holes in the top.
House flies, for example, can spread diseases such as food poisoning and dysentery. Flies, including stable flies and mosquitoes (which are also classified as flies, or Diptera), can inflict painful bites while feeding on the blood of humans and other animals, and some species transmit disease.
House flies are strongly suspected of transmitting at least 65 diseases to humans, including typhoid fever, dysentery, cholera, poliomyelitis, yaws, anthrax, tularemia, leprosy, and tuberculosis. Flies regurgitate and excrete wherever they come to rest and thereby mechanically transmit disease organisms.
A foul rotting piece of organic matter (from food, to feces, and everything in between) is probably the reason why the house flies are growing at an alarming rate in your home. It is the perfect breeding ground for houseflies and they will show up near and far to take advantage of the filth that is available to them.
Door Traffic
One of the main reasons flies are getting into your home when the windows are closed is because you may have a lot of door traffic. If you and other people consistently go in and out of a door, this is prime time for flies to enter your home.
Homeowners typically find house fly eggs in moist, decaying organic material like trash, grass clippings, or feces. Elongated and pale in color, they appear in clusters and hatch quickly after being laid by the female fly.
Are Flies a Good Omen? Flies are not traditionally considered to be a good omen. In some cultures, they are seen as bad omens. However, this is not always the case.
In most instances, spotting a fly on your food doesn't mean you need to throw it out. While there is little doubt that flies can carry bacteria, viruses and parasites from waste to our food, a single touchdown is unlikely to trigger a chain reaction leading to illness for the average healthy person.
First, check your screens and windows for holes, and remind your family to close the door behind them. Then, make sure your house is clean. House flies are attracted to things that make you go "ew," like pet waste, drain gunk (especially if you have a garbage disposal), overripe produce, trash cans, and sticky spills.
Some flies, such as house flies, can be annoying as they buzz about and visit your outdoor picnic. They can also spread disease as they fly from serving platter to serving platter. But many flies are good to have around because flies can pollinate plants, eat undesirable insects and provide food for birds.
The country provides the perfect climate for these insects to breed and flourish, and with so many varying species, flies can live in all parts of Australia, whether hot or cold, dry or wet. Flies are very annoying insects, buzzing around people, pets and food both outdoors as well as inside.
The tsetse fly is responsible for one of the most devastating human diseases, sleeping sickness. Like the kissing bug, the tsetse is a vector of trypanosomes. The parasite that causes sleeping sickness is Trypanosoma brucei and its subspecies.
Lavender, eucalyptus, peppermint and lemongrass essential oils – Not only will spraying these oils around the house create a beautiful aroma, but they will also deter those pesky flies too.
Does Vinegar, Dish Soap, Essential Oils Repel Flies? Vinegar attracts, not repels flies; however, a container with vinegar and dish soap will function as an attractant trap as the vinegar lures flies to enter the trap and the dish soap will cause the flies to sink and die.
Lavender is a good natural choice for keeping bugs at bay. Not only does the herb smell amazing but it also repels flies, beetles and even fleas – this is due to the lavender oil.
Flies are just like us – they spend the entire day buzzing around with their friends and get pretty tired at bedtime. Before sunset, a sleepy fly will try and find a safe place to rest. Some favourite places are on the undersides of leaves, twigs, and branches, or even in tall grass or under rocks.
Flies lay eggs in different sizes, shapes and locations, depending on the species. The common house fly lays eggs that resemble grains of white rice. Within 24 hours of being laid, maggots emerge from the eggs. These maggots – or fly larvae – look like tiny, pale white worms.
Piles of decaying grass clippings, compost heaps and other accumulations of rotting vegetable matter serve as good breeding places for flies. Eggs are laid on organic material such as manure and garbage.