Summary

Horse flies and deer flies are bloodsucking insects that can be serious pests of cattle, horses, and humans. Horse flies range in size from 3/4 to 1-1/4 inches long and usually have clear or solidly colored wings and brightly colored eyes. Deer flies, which commonly bite humans, are smaller with dark bands across the wings and colored eyes similar to those of horse flies. Attack by a few of these persistent flies can make outdoor work and recreation miserable. The numbers of flies and the intensity of their attack vary from year to year.

Habits

Horse flies and deer flies are intermittent feeders. Their painful bites generally elicit a response from the victim so the fly is forced to move to another host. Consequently, they may be mechanical vectors of some animal and human diseases.

Habitat

Larvae have chewing or tearing mouth parts; adult female mouth parts are modified for piercing and sucking blood. Adult females of many horse and deer fly species are attracted to man and animals in search of a blood meal, although a blood meal may not be necessary to produce the first cluster of eggs. Males are nectar feeders and often hover at certain times of the day, presumably to attract females and maintain a territory. Species are often locally abundant near breeding habitats, and the various species have distinctive adult activity periods during the year and/or during the day. Larvae live in species specific habitats, although most are aquatic, semi-aquatic or terrestrial. They are generally predaceous and cannibalistic, feeding on other insect larvae and earthworms, although some (particularly deer fly larvae) may feed on plant matter.

Protecting Animals

Horse flies and deer flies can be serious nuisances around swimming pools. They may be attracted by the shiny surface of the water or by movement of the swimmers. There are no effective recommendations to reduce this problem.

Horse flies and deer flies like sunny areas and usually will not enter barns or deep shade. If animals have access to protection during the day, they can escape the constant attack of these annoying pests. They can graze at night when the flies are not active.

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Habits

Fruit flies feed on decaying matter, especially fruits and vegetables.

Threats

Fruit flies are found in unsanitary conditions, so they are a potential health concern, especially when present in health facilities.

Summary

House flies get their name from being the most common fly found around homes. Adult house flies can grow to one-quarter of an inch long and usually live between 15 and 25 days.

Habits

They are only able to feed on liquids but have the ability to turn many solid foods into a liquid for them to eat. House flies taste with their feet, which are 10 million times more sensitive to sugar than the human tongue.

Habitat

House flies tend to stay within 1-2 miles of where they were born; however, they have been known to migrate up to 20 miles to find food.

Threats

These insects have been known to carry over 100 different kinds of disease-causing germs, which makes them very bad house guests.

Prevention

House flies can be controlled through vigilant sanitation. Remove trash regularly and use well-sealing garbage receptacles. Clean up pet waste immediately. Use fine mesh screens on doors and windows to prevent fly entry.

Summary

Drain flies sometimes appear suddenly and mysteriously, becoming a nuisance in both homes and sewage disposal plants. Adult flies may become so numerous indoors that they congregate at windows, darken lamp shades at night, fall into food and accumulate around showers, bathtubs, sinks and floor drains, especially in the basement. Outdoors they mar fresh paint and plug sewage filter beds (intakes and drains), getting into the eyes, ears and nose of people in the area. Bronchial asthma can be caused by inhaling fragments and dust of dead flies. Since these flies originate in filthy conditions, there is the possibility of human health disease transmission.

ID

Adult drain flies are tiny (1/5 to 1/6 inch long), fuzzy, dark or grayish insects with the body and wings densely covered with hairs. The antennae are long (13 segments), with each segment having a “bulbous swelling” with a whorl of long hairs. Wings, appearing too large for the body, are held roof-like over the body when at rest, giving a mothlike appearance. They are weak fliers and make irregular, hesitating flights covering only a few feet in short, jerky lines. Eggs are tiny, brown or cream-colored and are laid in irregular masses of 10 to 200. Larvae are legless, about 3/8 inch long, worm like and gray, with both ends somewhat darker.

Habitat & Life Cycle

Drain flies reproduce in polluted, shallow water or highly moist organic solids. The eggs, larvae and pupae can be found in the muck, slime, or gelatinous film often accumulating on the sides of drains and overflow pipes in homes, or in sewage disposal beds, septic tanks and moist compost. They have also been found in dirty garbage containers, rain barrels and tree holes. Eggs, which can hatch in 32 to 48 hours at 70 degrees F, are laid in and on the moist media. Larvae feed on the decaying organic matter, microorganisms, algae and sediment in the media. Larvae mature in 9 to 15 days and are considered valuable organisms along with the organic film in purifying sewage water. Larvae live in the organic film, breathing through tubes and feeding on sediment, decaying vegetation, along with microscopic plants and animals in filters at sewage plants. Pupae occur in or on the surface of the breeding media and, after 20 to 40 hours, new adults emerge.

The life cycle can be completed in one to three weeks. Adults live about two weeks, with old ones dying and new ones emerging. They feed on flower nectar and polluted water. During the day, adults rest in shaded areas or on walls near plumbing fixtures and on the sides of showers and tubs. Most activity occurs during the evening when these flies are seen hovering about drains and sinks. They may breed in large numbers at sewage filter plants and then may be carried by prevailing wind to nearby homes up to a mile away. Adults are small enough to pass through ordinary window screening.

Pest Control

Drain flies do not bite humans but may become a nuisance by their presence in large populations. Sometimes it takes persistent effort to eradicate an infestation in the home. Concentrate on eliminating larval breeding sites from drains in floors, sinks, wash basins, bathtubs, etc. Sometimes the source of the problem is a nearby filter plant.

Summary

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The cluster fly is slightly larger than the common house fly. There are no distinct lines or stripes behind the head, and the abdomen has irregular light and dark gray areas.

Habitat

Adult flies of the last generation of the year become numerous during the latter days of September to mid-October. As cold weather progresses, adults seek protected places to spend the winter. In many cases, this is within walls, attics, storage rooms, and basements of houses. Screens offer no protection since these flies prefer to crawl in through small openings elsewhere around the building. For this reason they are extremely difficult to keep out of houses. Isolated houses in the country are especially prone to invasion, since they offer the only warm shelter for miles around.

Life Cycle

The female lays eggs in the soil near the burrows of earthworms. The tiny maggots that hatch from the eggs seek out earthworms to feed upon. The maggots of cluster flies have never been reared on any other food but living earthworms. When full grown, the parasitic maggot leaves the body of the host and enters the soil. There are about four generations a year.

Damage

Cluster flies are parasitic on certain earthworms.

Control

Complete control of cluster flies is almost impossible since the overwintering adults are concealed in walls, attics, etc. When possible, cover the louver to the attic with screen, and use a caulking compound to seal openings to the outside. Adults are sluggish enough in the winter to be picked up with a vacuum cleaner.
It is probably not practical to attempt to control the host of cluster flies — earthworms in the ground around the house. Earthworms are important to soil, and cluster flies would simply come from surrounding areas. Chemical control should be concentrated in the home where the adults hibernate. Adults that buzz about the house can be killed with an aerosol spray.

Prevention

Prevention of cluster fly infestations is very difficult, but certainly warrants a try. Timing is the most important factor. Applying a synthetic pyrethroid to the outside of the structure with an electric fogging machine will help treat all entry sites. Application should be made in the first two weeks of August. When using strips or spray, it may be more effective to concentrate the chemical on the sunny side of the house. These walls are warmer and generally attract more flies.