2. Filth-Breeding Flies and What You Need To Know
SEVERAL KINDS OF NON-BITING FLIES CAN BE FOUND IN AND
AROUND FARMS, RESIDENCES, AND FOOD-HANDLING
ESTABLISHMENTS.
THESE FLIES CAN BE HARMFUL TO HEALTH, CAUSING
ANNOYANCE AND DISCOMFORT.

3. Filth-Breeding Flies and What You Need To Know
ALL FILTH FLIES HAVE AN EGG, LARVA (MAGGOT), PUPA, AND
ADULT STAGE IN THEIR LIFE CYCLE. THE ADULT FLY HAS 2
WINGS (THE HIND PAIR IS REDUCED TO A KNOBBED
BALANCING ORGAN).

4. Filth-Breeding Flies and What You Need To Know
FILTH FLIES ARE USUALLY SCAVENGERS IN NATURE AND MANY
ARE CAPABLE OF TRANSMITTING DISEASES TO MAN.

5. Filth-Breeding Flies and What You
Need To Know
 Filth flies can usually be grouped according to their
habits and appearance as: houseflies and their
relatives; flesh flies, blow flies and bottle flies, filter flies,
soldier flies, and vinegar (fruit) flies.
 This course will proved information on identification and
biology of common filth breeding flies

6. Filth-Breeding Flies and What You Need To Know
Several kinds of non-biting flies can be found in and
around farms, residences, and food-handling
establishments.
These flies can be harmful to health, causing annoyance
and discomfort. All filth flies have an egg, larva (maggot),
pupa, and adult stage in their life cycle.
The adult fly has 2 wings (the hind pair is reduced to a
knobbed balancing organ).
This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND.

7. Filth-Breeding Flies and What You Need To Know
Filth flies are usually scavengers in nature and many are
capable of transmitting diseases to man.
Filth flies can usually be grouped according to their habits
and appearance as: houseflies and their relatives; flesh flies,
blow flies and bottle flies, filter flies, soldier flies, and vinegar
(fruit) flies.
This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND.

8. House Fly
 The house fly, Musca domestica is one of the most
common of all insects. It is worldwide in distribution and
is a pest in homes, barns, poultry houses, food
processing plants, dairies, and recreation areas. It has a
tremendous breeding potential and during the warmer
months can produce a generation in less than two
weeks.

9. House Fly
 House fly eggs are laid in
almost any type of warm
organic material. Animal or
poultry manure is an excellent
breeding medium. Fermenting
vegetation such as grass
clippings and garbage can
also provide a medium for fly
breeding. The whitish eggs,
which are laid in clusters of 75-
100,

10. Stable Flies
The stable fly is a blood-
sucking fly which is of
considerable importance to
people, pets, and
agricultural animals. Stable
Flies primarily attack animals
for a blood meal, but in the
absence of an animal host
will also bite man.

11. Stable Flies
 Adult stable flies can fly up to 70
miles from their breeding sites. The
stable fly adult is similar to the house
fly in size and color. The stable fly,
however, has a long bayonet-like
mouthpart for sucking blood. Unlike
many other species of flies, both
male and female stable flies suck
blood.

12. Stable Flies
 The most practical and economical
method for reducing stable fly
populations is the elimination or proper
management of breeding sources. It is
important to remember that stable flies
cannot develop in dry materials.
 * Stable flies breed in three principal
types of material:
 * Green vegetation (e.g. green chop,
silage, crop residues, and cut grass),
 * Seaweed and Bay grass deposits
 *Animal manure.

13. Flesh Flies
 Flesh flies are a scavenger fly species
that usually feeds on carrion or meat
scraps in garbage. They are medium-
to large-sized flies and usually have 3
dark thoracic stripes and mottled
abdomens. Many of the common
species have a red tip on the
abdomen.

14. Flesh Flies
 Flesh flies retain their eggs within the
body of the female until they are
ready to hatch. The larvae are
deposited directly onto the food the
immature will be eating. The life
cycle for the common species can
be completed in 8 to 21 days.

15. Flesh Flies
 The preferred breeding media
around residences are decayed
flesh, spoiling meat, and manure.
 Usually garbage can meat scraps
and dog food left outside are
abundant sources of flesh fly
breeding.
 Flesh flies can breed in dead
rodents and birds in attics or wall
voids of houses.

16. Blow Flies and Bottle Flies
 There are quite a few species of blow
flies and bottle flies which are found
in and around residences. The
greenbottle, bluebottle, and bronze
bottle flies are particularly abundant.
In urban areas these flies may be
more abundant than house flies.

17. Blow Flies and Bottle Flies
 The blow flies and bottle flies usually have a
metallic blue or green color or both on the
thorax and abdomen. These flies are strong fliers
and range many miles from breeding places.
They are abundant during the warm summer
months.

18. Blow Flies and Bottle Flies
 Blow flies and bottle flies can breed on dead rodents and dead
birds in attics or wall voids of houses. They usually breed in meat
scraps, animal excrement, and decaying animal matter around
houses. The adult flies are quite active inside and are strongly
attracted to light. The mature larvae are often a problem when
they migrate from breeding areas to pupate.
 Blow flies usually lay eggs on dead animals or decaying meat.
Garbage cans have been known to produce 30,000 blow flies in
one week. The life cycle usually lasts 9-21 days from egg to adult.
This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY-SA.

19. Filter Flies
 Filter flies (drain flies),
belong to the family of flies
called moth flies. Filter flies
usually feed on slime in
trickling filters of sewage
treatment plants or in
drains of sinks. Usually filter
flies breed in houses in the
bathroom or kitchen area.
This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY-SA.

20. Adult filter flies have the body and wings covered with dense, long
hairs. The eggs of filter flies are laid where moist decaying organic
matter occurs (water traps in plumbing fixtures,
dirty garbage containers, and around built-in sinks). Larvae and
pupae live in the decomposing film.
The life cycle from egg to adult is usually 1-3 weeks.
This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY-SA.

21. Soldier Flies
The soldier fly is a
widespread pest which
occasionally becomes a
problem in homes. The
adult is a large fly about 1
inch long with 2 large
translucent areas on the
abdomen. The fly
behaves like a wasp and
is similar in appearance to
a mud-dauber wasp.

22. Soldier Flies
The larvae prefer to feed on human
or animal excrement although they
have also been known to breed in
honey bee colonies killed in walls of
houses.
Most frequently the larvae are found
in bathrooms migrating from the septic
tank or sewer line. The presence of the
maggot under such circumstances
indicates the septic tank or sewage line
is not working properly.

23. Fruit Flies
 Fruit flies are nuisance
pests and contaminators
of food. Fruit flies usually
breed in fruit, dirty
garbage containers, or
slime in drains. These flies
are readily attracted to
fruit, vegetables, and
soda bottles and cans.

24. Fruit Flies
 Adults are about 1/8 inch long
and usually have red eyes. The
front portion of the body is tan
and the rear portion is black.
 Each adult lays about 500 eggs
which hatch and the larvae
mature to adults in 9-12 days.
 Fruit flies lay their eggs near the
surface of fermenting foods or
other moist, organic materials.
Upon emerging, the tiny larvae
continue to feed near the surface
of the fermenting mass.

25. Fruit Flies are common in:
Homes  Spilled fruit juice under a cabinet or refrigerator.
 Discarded fruit peals in or behind the trash can
 Potatoes and/or onions that are rotting left in a drawer or
storage bin
 Fruit or vegetables left on a counter that are over ripe
 Recycling bins in or near the home

26. Fruit Flies are common in:
Restaurants
 The bar area especially the fruit trays for drinks and
damp bar towels
 Rotted fruits and vegetables pushed under
refrigerators, stoves, sinks and dishwashers
 Decaying fruit and vegetables in the storage room
 In and around trash containers
 Around dirty dishes and sinks

27. Fruit Flies are common in:
Grocery Stores
 Back storage areas where fruit and vegetables have fallen out
of boxes or off of carts
 Check-out stands when fruit juice has been spilled
 Fruit and vegetable department especially under the stands
and fruit and vegetables at the bottom of the bins
 Trash bins inside and outside

28. Hump-Backed Flies
 Hump-backed flies are about 1/8 inch
long with a small head and large
thorax, causing the fly to have a
hump-backed appearance.
 Hump-backed flies breed in decaying
vegetation, animal debris, garbage
and in ant and termite nests.
 Non-chemical control can be
obtained by sanitation, destruction of
breeding sites and moisture
control. Hump-backed flies may be
chemically controlled by residual and
space sprays.
This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND.

29. Secondary Screwworm Flies
 Secondary screwworm flies are about 1/4
inch long, green in color, shiny abdomen
and thorax with thorax marked lengthwise
with three dark stripes.
 Their life cycle is 9 to 39 days. They breed in
dead tissue surrounding wounds in animals,
fresh cut meats, and garbage.
 Secondary screwworm flies can be
chemically controlled by sanitation and
destruction of breeding sites.
 Chemical control may be obtained by
residual and space sprays

30. Control of Filth Flies
 Regardless of advancements in chemical
control, sanitation is still the best method of
controlling filth flies in and around the
home and on the farm.
 Flies seek breeding places where garbage,
animal droppings or vegetation residues
accumulate.
 Locate and thoroughly clean such places.
This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY-SA.

31. Control of Filth Flies
 Dry, spread or somehow dispose of dog,
cat, or other animal excrement. Do not let
garbage accumulate in the open and
make sure garbage cans have sound
bottoms and tight fitting lids.

32. Good fitting screens on windows and
doors are essential in barring flies from
homes, dairy barns, milk rooms, and
food processing areas.
This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY.

33. To kill flies inside the home use a space spray or aerosol
containing pyrethrins plus a synergist.
 Release the mist from the
aerosol for a few seconds
around the room and keep
the room closed for 10 to 15
minutes.
 Outside the house apply a
residual or surface spray.
Follow dosage and
application directions on the
container label.
 To kill flies in and around
farm buildings apply a
residual spray, an
insecticide bait, or a
larvicide to the breeding
areas.

34. Pests Description
Control
Breeding Habits
Life
Cycle
Non-Chemical
House Fly
About 1/4" in length; dull
gray in color; thorax marked
longitudinally with 4 dark
stripes; abdomen pale and
fourth wing vein is angled.
Warm organic material such
as animal and poultry
manure, garbage, decaying
vegetables and fruits and in
piles of moist leaves and lawn
clippings.
6 to
10
days
Sanitation and destruction
of breeding sites; tight
fitting garbage containers
and screens on windows
and doors.
Green
Bottle Fly
About 1/2" in length with
shiny metallic blue-green
abdomen and thorax.
Dead animal carcasses;
decomposing meat and fish;
garbage and some-times
animal excrement.
9 to
21
days
Sanitation and destruction
of breeding sites; tight
fitting garbage containers
and screens on windows
and doors.
Bronze
Bottle Fly
About 1/2" in length with a
shiny bronze abdomen and
thorax.
Dead animal carcasses;
decomposing meat and fish,
garbage and some- times
animal excrement.
9 to
10
days
Sanitation and destruction
of breeding sites; tight
fitting garbage containers.
Blue Bottle
Fly
About 1/2" in length with a
dull thorax and shiny blue
abdomen.
Dead animal carcasses;
decomposing meat and fish,
garbage, over-ripe fruit,
decaying vegetable matter
and sores on living humans.
15 to
20
days
Sanitation and destruction
of breeding sites; tight
fitting garbage containers
and screens on windows
and doors.
Decomposing organic
material such as moist plant
7 to
Sanitation and destruction

35. Photos courtesy of:
Pest and Disease Image Library
Whitney Crenshaw, Colorado State University, Bugwood.org
David Cappaert. Bugwood.org
Joseph Barger, Bugwood.org
Paul Langlois, USDA APHIS ITP, Bugwood.org