Flies, those buzzing, bothersome insects, have plagued humans for millennia. More than just a nuisance, flies pose a genuine threat to human health as vectors of disease. Common culprits like the housefly, often categorized as “filth flies,” thrive in unsanitary environments, breeding in decaying food, animal waste, and garbage.
The rapid life cycle of a fly, from egg to adult in as little as ten days, means a small fly problem can quickly escalate into a major infestation. Therefore, effective long-term fly control hinges on diligent sanitation and exclusion practices.
This comprehensive guide will equip you with the knowledge to identify different fly species and implement proven strategies to eliminate fly infestations in your home and prevent future outbreaks.
How to Get Rid of Flies
Effective fly control strategies for homes, focusing on sanitation and prevention.
Effective Strategies for Fly Control
A robust fly control plan starts with addressing the root causes: sanitation and exclusion. By removing food sources and blocking entry points, you create an environment less hospitable to flies. Beyond these foundational steps, a range of control products is available, from targeted insecticides to natural traps.
Comprehensive Fly Control Management
Your arsenal against flies can include diverse options tailored to different situations and preferences. These include:
- Concentrated liquid insecticides: Liquid concentrates offer a potent solution for broader application.
- Insecticide dusts: Insecticide dust can be applied in cracks and crevices where flies may harbor.
- Pyrethrin aerosols: For quick knockdown of flying insects, pyrethrin aerosols provide rapid relief.
- Fly light traps: Fly light traps utilize UV light to attract and capture flies, ideal for indoor use.
- Fogging materials: Foggers can treat larger areas, dispensing insecticide in a wide mist.
- Fly baits: Fly baits attract flies with enticing scents and deliver a lethal dose.
- Outdoor fly traps: For perimeter control, outdoor traps lure flies away from your home.
Drain flies can be particularly problematic in kitchens, both residential and commercial. Invade Bio Treatment Gel offers an effective solution. This natural product uses beneficial microbes to break down organic buildup in drains, eliminating drain fly breeding grounds.
Fly lights are especially effective in commercial settings like restaurants, leveraging specific UV wavelengths to attract and trap flies efficiently. Fly glue traps are another useful option for capturing flies without insecticides.
For more detailed information, explore specific fly types and control methods by clicking on these categories: Filth Flies, Small Flies, and Nuisance/Biting Flies.
Get Rid of Flies
Various fly control products including spray, traps and electronic devices to eliminate fly infestations.
Natural Fly Remedies for a Pest-Free Environment
For outdoor fly problems, fly traps can be incredibly effective. Many outdoor fly traps utilize attractants derived from decaying matter, such as putrescent eggs. These attractants emit odors highly appealing to flies, though unpleasant to humans. Indoors, essential oils and other natural repellents can be effective, particularly in enclosed spaces.
Fly traps can capture thousands of flies and should be replaced once full. For severe infestations, consider deploying multiple traps around your property perimeter, placing them away from your house to avoid drawing flies closer to your living areas.
Here are 5 top natural remedies to get rid of flies effectively:
1. The Decaying Food Fly Trap: A DIY Solution
Instead of discarding spoiled food, repurpose it into a highly effective fly trap. Place the rotten food in a container and securely cover it with plastic wrap. Pierce small holes in the plastic, just large enough for flies to enter. Position the trap in areas with high fly activity. Flies will be drawn to the decaying food, enter the trap, and become trapped inside. Once they perish, dispose of the entire container and repeat the process as needed.
2. Apple Cider Vinegar and Dish Soap Trap: A Sweet Demise
The apple cider vinegar trap is a widely recognized and effective homemade fly solution. Fill a disposable container with water, add a spoonful of sugar, a squirt of dish soap, and a few tablespoons of apple cider vinegar.
Gently stir the mixture to dissolve the sugar. Place the container in areas where flies are prevalent. The sweet scent of vinegar attracts flies, but the dish soap reduces surface tension, causing them to drown upon contact with the liquid. Replenish the trap as needed until the fly problem diminishes.
3. Red Wine Fly Trap: Recycle and Repel
Don’t discard leftover red wine; transform it into a fly trap! Pour the wine into a container, add a few drops of dish soap, and cover the opening tightly with plastic wrap.
Create small holes in the plastic wrap to allow flies to enter. Flies are attracted to the aroma of red wine and will enter the trap seeking a drink, but the dish soap will trap them, preventing escape and leading to drowning.
4. Essential Oils: Natural Fly Repellents
Essential oils offer a fragrant and natural way to deter flies. Strong, pungent scents are particularly effective fly repellents. Consider using oils like clove, pine, lemongrass, eucalyptus, lavender, mint, rosemary, peppermint, tea tree, and citronella.
Lemon eucalyptus essential oil is notably effective for many, with its potent scent acting as a powerful natural fly deterrent. To protect your property perimeter, apply a few drops of your chosen essential oils to cloth strips to create DIY fly paper. Alternatively, use a spray bottle to apply diluted essential oil mixtures to outdoor areas like decks and patios.
5. Fans and Candles: Simple Outdoor Fly Deterrents
Wondering how to manage flies in outdoor spaces? A simple fan can be surprisingly effective in smaller outdoor areas. Flies prefer calm air for flight, and the moving air from a fan disorients them, making it difficult to land and linger. Citronella candles also serve as effective natural fly deterrents. While primarily known for mosquito repellent properties, citronella candles can also effectively repel flies, particularly in confined outdoor settings.
Identifying Fly Types for Targeted Control
Accurate fly identification is crucial for implementing the most effective control strategies. Different fly species have varying habits and breeding preferences, so knowing what you’re dealing with is key.
Filth Flies: The Disease Vectors
Filth flies, including common house flies, are more than just a nuisance; they are potential vectors of disease for both humans and animals. Their feeding and breeding habits in garbage, manure, and carrion facilitate the spread of bacteria and disease-causing organisms. When filth flies land on human food or food preparation surfaces, they can contaminate them, potentially transmitting illnesses like food poisoning and dysentery.
TYPES OF FILTH FLIES
Small Flies: Kitchen and Food Area Pests
Many small fly species (around 1/4 inch) are commonly found in kitchens and food preparation areas and can also carry disease-causing organisms.
The following six fly species are among the most common types of small flies encountered in homes:
TYPES OF SMALL FLIES
Nuisance and Biting Flies: Outdoor Annoyances
Many flies found around homes are not only a nuisance but can also bite. Like many fly species, these often breed in decaying organic matter and animal waste.
They, too, can transmit bacteria and viruses to humans. Flies such as stable flies and horse flies, sometimes referred to as “biting flies,” feed on mammalian blood and inflict painful bites.
TYPES OF NUISANCE AND BITING FLIES
Identifying the specific type of fly infestation is a critical first step in choosing the most effective elimination methods.
Preventing Flies from Entering Your Home: Proactive Steps
As with most pest issues, prevention is always preferable to reaction. The most effective long-term strategy for fly control is to prevent them from entering your home in the first place and eliminating conditions that attract them. Maintaining cleanliness in key areas of your home is paramount. Specifically, ensure your kitchen is free of exposed food by storing all food items in airtight containers that flies cannot penetrate.
Sanitation: The Cornerstone of Fly Prevention
Sanitation is the most critical component of any successful fly management program. The primary goal of sanitation is to eliminate or prevent the development of fly larvae breeding sites. Equally important is removing attractants for adult flies, such as garbage and animal waste. Moisture is a key factor in fly breeding, so ensuring good drainage is also essential where possible. Depriving flies of readily available water sources can significantly reduce their populations or force them to relocate.
Decomposing Organic Waste: A Magnet for Flies
Decomposing organic waste is a major fly attractant. Flies are strongly drawn to plant or animal-based materials like compost, rotting vegetables, or animal feces, and will lay thousands of eggs on these materials. The eggs hatch into maggots (larvae), which then mature into adult flies, perpetuating the cycle. Eliminating these breeding sources is crucial for maintaining a fly-free property.
- Regularly clean garbage cans with a bleach solution. Keep compost bins covered and, ideally, located away from the house.
- Invade Bio Foam is an all-natural probiotic product that can be sprayed on organic debris in dumpsters to break it down and reduce fly attraction. Soldier fly larvae are often found around dumpsters; keeping tight-fitting lids on garbage cans helps deter flies. Position garbage cans as far from doors as possible to minimize fly entry into buildings.
- Repair any damaged window screens and doors promptly. Use fine mesh screens on all building openings. For doorways that must remain open for business or operational needs, install air curtains. Air curtains with an air velocity of 1,600 feet per minute or higher can effectively prevent fly entry.
- Promptly pick up pet waste from your yard. Flys readily breed and lay eggs in pet waste due to its moisture content and organic matter.
- Regularly wipe down all surfaces that come into contact with food to remove potential food debris.
- Dead rodents or birds can significantly exacerbate fly problems. Remove any carcasses promptly, as flies will lay eggs on decomposing bodies, leading to maggot infestations and subsequent adult fly emergence.
- Avoid overwatering indoor potted plants. Overly saturated soil provides an ideal breeding environment for gnats and certain small flies. Ensure plant pots are well-drained.
- Maintaining clean outdoor areas is often key to fly prevention. Clear away soiled flower bedding, decaying plant matter, straw, and animal matter that can attract flies and serve as breeding sites.
Explore Our Fly Control Product Range
Ready to take definitive action against bothersome flies? Browse our carefully selected range of fly control products designed for both indoor and outdoor applications. Whether you’re battling house flies, fruit flies, or any other fly type, our collection offers solutions from environmentally conscious options to advanced traps and repellents. Each product is chosen for its effectiveness and safety, ensuring you can resolve your fly issue without compromising your well-being. Don’t let flies dominate your space any longer. Shop DIY Pest Control today and begin enjoying a fly-free environment.
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FAQs About Fly Control
What Factors Attract Flies to My Home and Garden?
Flies are primarily attracted to readily available food sources, including food waste, pet waste, overripe fruits, and standing water. Reducing these attractants by maintaining cleanliness, promptly disposing of garbage, and eliminating standing water sources is crucial for preventing fly infestations.
Are there Effective Natural Remedies for Fly Control?
Yes, numerous natural remedies can help control flies. These include using essential oil sprays made with lavender or eucalyptus, setting up traps using vinegar or wine, and incorporating fly-repelling plants like basil and lavender around your home and garden.
How Can I Prevent Flies from Entering My House Effectively?
Preventing fly entry involves several key measures: sealing cracks and openings in your home’s structure, installing fine mesh screens on windows and doors, practicing proper waste management, and keeping doors closed as much as possible, especially during peak fly activity times.
What is the Safest Way to Eliminate Flies in Kitchens and Food Areas?
To safely eliminate flies in kitchens and food preparation areas, prioritize non-toxic methods. Utilize traps like sticky fly traps or UV light traps. Maintain meticulous cleanliness, store all food in airtight containers, and regularly dispose of garbage, especially food waste.
Is Disease Transmission by Flies a Real Concern?
Yes, flies are known vectors for various diseases, including food poisoning and dysentery. They can transmit pathogens by contaminating food and surfaces. Protecting your family involves maintaining a clean environment, implementing effective fly control measures, and ensuring food is properly covered and stored.
