Check your kitchen, bathrooms, basement, trash cans, litter boxes, and drains for these insects. Many flies are also attracted to light, so look for them near sources of light in your home at night.
Homeowners typically find house fly eggs in moist, decaying organic material like trash, grass clippings, or feces.
Females lay eggs in rotting straw and manure, moist piles of animal feed and yard waste. Not associated with filth, cluster flies are mentioned here because they are a common household pest.
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.
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.
They generally begin to appear in late May, and reach a population peak during August and September, with breeding generally ceasing in October. After this period, flies can “over- winter” as adults or pupae. However, in warmer areas houseflies can remain active and reproduce throughout the year.
Flies lay their eggs in food they land on. Given enough time on top of your food, flies may take the opportunity to lay their eggs in it. You will not be able to see the eggs, but they are there. And within a few days' time, maggots will appear in the food.
The life expectancy of a housefly is generally 15 to 30 days and depends upon temperature and living conditions. Flies dwelling in warm homes and laboratories develop faster and live longer than their counterparts in the wild. The housefly's brief life cycle allows them to multiply quickly if left uncontrolled.
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. They need a comfortable place to sleep that will shelter them from the cold, rain and wind.
Signs of a Fly Infestation
Small dark clusters of spots - in light areas (the size of a pinhead) Regular sighting of flies - around your home, food or bins. Maggots – these are flies in their larval stage and could indicate a potential breeding site on your property.
Boiling water
One of the easiest methods for killing maggots is to simply pour a kettle full of boiling water over the maggot infestation, as this will kill them instantly. Then, you can drain off the water — if you've found maggots in your trash can, for example — and clean the area effectively.
A female house fly is capable of laying up to 150 eggs in a batch. Over a period of a few days, she will produce five or six batches of eggs. Female house flies favor damp, dark surfaces such as compost, manure and other decomposing organic material for egg laying.
The best cultural method is to properly dispose of any organic matter, such as vegetable or other food by-products, where houseflies might lay eggs. Place these materials in garbage bags and tie the bags securely. Remove all food residues and clean your garbage cans weekly.
Many flies, like cluster flies, love the sunlight and warmth, which is often why they buzz against windows. So always make sure your open windows have screens to keep flies from entering. Likewise, don't leave doors without screens open for long periods of time. Here's more on how to get rid of flies, in general.
The Fly has a very soft, fleshy, spongelike mouth and when it lands on you and touches your skin, it won't bite, it will suck up secretions on the skin. It is interested in sweat, proteins, carbohydrates, salts, sugars and other chemicals and pieces of dead skin that keep flaking off.
House flies are gray in color, while most cluster flies appear black. Additionally, cluster flies have golden hairs growing on their body whereas house flies do not. While house flies can zip quickly through a room, cluster flies are more sluggish in their speed, and easier to swat.
Cinnamon – use cinnamon as an air freshner, as flies hate the smell! 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.
Flies hate the smell of essential oils like lemon grass, peppermint, lavender and eucalyptus – put a few drops in a spray bottle and use around the house daily. They also hate the smell of camphor (a traditional moth deterrent) which you can buy online, cloves and cinnamon.
✔️Mix apple cider vinegar and dish soap.
Combine equal parts of the two in a small bowl and add a pinch of sugar to the mix. Ideally, the dish soap will have a fruity smell. “The fermented smell from the vinegar can attract flies,” Pereira says. “But the soap is really what will kill them.”
In no time at all, a couple of flies can turn into hundreds if you let them be. Rather than assume the problem will go away on its own in a few days, you should take immediate steps to eliminate a fly if you see one buzzing around your home. Keep a fly swatter handy for swift removal.
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.