Intrusively buzzing flies in the house are a frequent and very unpleasant occurrence. They irritate with their chaotic movements, sit on food, and spread dirt and bacteria.
In order to protect your home from arrogant insects, first of all you need to understand where they came from in the apartment and what attracted them.
What attracts flies to our homes?
The smell of food and warmth are the main reasons that attract flies into homes. Insects have a unique sense of smell; they sense odors from afar, so they fly to apartments where they can profit from something. Flies can be attracted by:
- rotting vegetables, berries, fruits;
- spoiled meat, fish;
- waste in the trash can;
- leftover food on the table, dirty dishes;
- dirty, wet dish sponges;
- stale food in a pet's bowl;
- Stagnant water in trays from under indoor plants.
Flies in food
Also, a factor in the appearance of flies can be the pet’s bedding, which has not been changed for a long time. In the bedding of hamsters and guinea pigs, excrement and food debris accumulate, the smell of which is attractive to flies.
Thick, black, sleepy flies: who are they?
Firstly, it is worth knowing that we are not talking about small midges, which can sometimes be found circling over fruits - these are small fruit flies , which will not be difficult to deal with. They are quite harmless and are attracted only by leftover food. As soon as you remove or cover the fruits on the table, the circling small fry will immediately disappear.
Leftover food serves as an excellent breeding ground for small midges.
More annoying and even dangerous are relatives of fruit flies - thick, black and very annoying flies. Ubiquitous, they can buzz in your ear for hours, irritating all family members. In addition, they are also dangerous: their paws are covered with small villi, which collect a huge number of all kinds of harmful bacteria.
There are about 75 thousand flies in the world. Some of them are very dangerous, like the famous Tsetse fly, others bite unpleasantly, while others are completely harmless creatures.
The inhabitant of houses and apartments is most often the housefly. It is she who, as a rule, bothers us in the summer and autumn. An insect of this species does not bite and is not blood-sucking, but is dangerous only as a carrier of various diseases . Interestingly, the life cycle of a housefly is quite short: these insects live only 8-20 days.
Flies are very annoying insects
In addition, you can find a thick carrion fly in the house. It can be distinguished by its bright shiny green body color.
Where do flies come from in an apartment?
The question of where flies come from worries many clean housewives, especially since insects often appear even indoors. There are only two options:
- the fly flew in on its own;
- the insect, eggs or larvae were brought by someone who visited the apartment.
In the first case, insects enter the apartment through open windows, doors, ventilation systems, sewers, cracks in window frames, door frames or walls.
Flies can appear after fruits or vegetables, flowers, or soil contaminated with eggs are brought into the house. Eggs or larvae can stick to outdoor shoes or get on your pet's clothing or fur during a walk.
in spring
Many summer residents, making their first test forays outside the city in the spring, are perplexed as to where the flies came from in a house locked for the winter. Most often, the cause of insects is eggs or larvae that were laid in the fall and overwintered somewhere in the bowels of the house. With the arrival of spring, the temperature began to rise, the development of insects resumed, and now the owners of the dacha are greeted by several young flies with the discordant buzzing.
Another explanation for the fact that flies appeared in a house or apartment in the spring is that they spent the winter in a secluded place, and now they have woken up. This option is also possible - the early spring was very warm and a new generation of flies was born, then the cold returned and the insects entered warm human habitation in search of warmth.
In summer
Where flies come from in the house in the summer is clear to everyone. It is during the warm season that insects are most active. There is simply an infestation of flies in houses and apartments. Most often they fly into rooms through windows that are open for ventilation. Residents of houses whose windows overlook garbage dumps and garbage cans suffer the most.
But even with the windows closed, getting into the room is not a problem for flies. Any small opening for her is a hospitably open gate. And if we are talking about a wooden house, in which there are always cracks and cracks, then insects penetrate there with ease. There are always more flies in the country. After all, nearby there is a plot with flowers, fruit trees, beds, compost heaps, often cesspools or street toilets.
In addition, buildings for keeping animals are often located next to private houses. In cowsheds, chicken coops, and pigsties there are always a lot of flies that periodically fly into the house.
In the house
You can even bring flies with a bouquet of wild or garden flowers, and eggs or larvae can be found on vegetables and fruits collected from the garden or purchased at the market.
in autumn
In autumn, the appearance of flies in the apartment does not stop. With the onset of cold weather, insects gather in groups and look for a warm place to winter. They climb into cracks, hide between window panes, and find other hard-to-reach places where they hibernate.
In a country house in the fall, there are sometimes even more flies than in the summer. Perhaps this impression is due to the fact that autumn flies are more lethargic, slower and catch your eye more often.
in winter
Flies can unexpectedly appear in the house in winter. Of course, they don't fly in from the street. Most often, this is a fly that accidentally woke up and was affected by too high a temperature in the room. Or perhaps the insects' hiding place was discovered and they were disturbed. Another option is that flies entered from the basement of the house through the sewage system or ventilation. You can bring larvae or eggs, for example, with purchased low-quality soil for indoor plants or with stale food.
Fly trap
Traps are considered not the most effective method, but they are very popular in the country. At the same time, you can clearly see how many flies were caught. The point of the trap is the bait, which does not let go of the fly after it has succumbed to temptation. Making them yourself is very easy and simple. Let's take a closer look.
Trap in a jar
Not only cans become a trap; ordinary plastic bottles are also used. Liquid is poured into the bottom of any container, which attracts flies. The entrance to the bait should be transparent and narrow. Once a fly has flown in, it will no longer be able to get out. Since her vision does not allow her to see and fly around transparent obstacles.
For the jar trap you will need a jar and cling film. Pour bait onto the bottom, stretch the film on top and make several holes in it. Ready.
It's about the same story with the bottle trap. Cut off the top of the bottle and turn it upside down. At the bottom, of course, there is already a liquid that is pleasant for flies. Ready.
The bait will be apple cider vinegar, water with sugar or honey, jam. A slightly rotten piece of meat or fresh, which will begin to act the next day.
Sticky traps
Everyone knows this trap. It is a tape with sticky bait applied to it. Apply a thick sweet composition, for example, sugar syrup or a mixture of liquid rosin, castor oil and a drop of jam, onto ribbons of thick paper.
Insect repellent tape
Peculiarities of insect life in an apartment
The existence of insects in an apartment is not very different from their life in nature. Moreover, many flies belong to synanthropic species, that is, in the process of evolution they have become completely dependent on humans and the most comfortable place for them is human housing.
It is not difficult to distinguish house flies. These are small (6–9 mm) insects, brownish-gray in color. But sometimes in the apartment you can notice green or blue flies, which most likely belong to meat flies. Small black flies belonging to flower or fruit species often appear in apartments.
Most often, flies choose a room where there is food to live. Therefore, they are mainly grouped in the kitchen or pantry. When indoors, the fly does not hide much, since its agility and good vision allow it to avoid the danger that a person may pose. But insects make a nest in a secluded place so as not to endanger the offspring.
Large flies most often hibernate closer to winter. But sometimes it happens that if the apartment is warm enough, insects are active throughout the year.
What to do if you appear
What to do if flies appear in the apartment? There are many answers to this question. Next, we will describe the most popular methods of destroying or expelling insects.
spring-cleaning
This method involves eliminating the source of attraction for insects. In the kitchen, you need to wash the refrigerator, cabinet and other surfaces, clear the table, and wash the dishes.
To prevent pests from entering your apartment, store stale food in a separate sealed container, cover the trash can with food waste, and constantly treat the trash can with disinfectants.
Using a fly swatter
If general cleaning in the kitchen did not give the desired result and flies reappeared in the apartment, you can try to eliminate them using a fly swatter. If you don’t have such a device, use old newspapers or magazines that are wrapped in a tube.
A huge disadvantage of this method is considered to be insect stains on the ceiling and wall, which is why many housewives have started using electric fly swatters. This device runs on batteries and does all the work without the participation of the apartment owner.
Using homemade traps
If for some reason a person cannot buy special sticky traps for flies, then you can make insect bait yourself using improvised means. First, make syrup (50-60 grams of sugar per 100 milliliters of water with the addition of lemon juice). Next, cut pieces of paper to the required length, spread with the prepared solution and leave to dry. A hole is made in the top of the trap for a loop.
After the syrup has dried, the strips are hung in places where flies are most concentrated. Another option for a homemade trap is to use a milk solution with the same sugar concentration. The liquid is simply poured into a jar, after which the containers are placed around the perimeter of the apartment.
Here's another way to make homemade fly traps.
Using a mosquito net
Anti-mosquito nets on doors and windows will prevent the appearance of flies in the apartment and will make it possible to ventilate the premises without fear of pest attacks. It should be remembered that flies can crawl into the smallest cracks, so places of damage in the mesh must be repaired immediately after they appear.
Reproduction in the home
The process of insect reproduction occurs in exactly the same way, regardless of whether it occurs indoors or outdoors. Perhaps the only difference is the number of eggs that flies lay.
According to research, there is less masonry at home. To reproduce, the females of some types of flies need protein food, so the insects flock to meat and fish left on the table.
On meat
In general, flies in the house are started in the following way: a fertilized female lays eggs on a substrate on which the hatched larvae can feed (most often in the trash, on spoiled food or leftovers). After 8 - 48 hours, larvae appear - small white worms, which begin to actively eat and also actively grow.
After 10–14 days (the period can change in one direction or the other), the larva pupates, having gone through several molts before that. After a few more days, a young fly is born.
Danger to humans
Flies in the house not only bring discomfort and irritation with their presence and buzzing, but they are also dangerous due to the spread of pathogens, infections, and diseases. There are many types of flies that harm humans in different ways. Among them there are blood-sucking parasites, pests that destroy crops and harvests. The most common are house flies and green flies in apartments and houses.
Diseases, infections:
- diphtheria;
- cholera;
- worms;
- tuberculosis;
- anthrax;
- severe poisoning;
- intestinal infections;
- brucellosis;
- tularemia.
Having excellent charm, flies are able to smell food from afar, they are especially attracted to the aromas of decomposition products. An infestation of flies in an apartment is observed in the kitchen, where they come into contact with household products, human food, in toilets, and restrooms.
Ways to get rid of flies
If flies appear in the house, you need to take an integrated approach that will get rid of both adult insects and larvae and eggs. First of all, measures must be taken to prevent insects from entering the premises. Seal the cracks in the window frames, install special nets on the windows and ventilation holes.
The next step will be general cleaning. Particular attention should be paid to hard-to-reach places - under and behind furniture, in the corners of cabinets, under the sink, bathroom, near the trash can. After this, you can proceed directly to the fight against flies. For this use:
- traps;
- sticky tapes;
- fumigators;
- poison;
- folk remedies;
- insecticides.
It’s better to start with safe methods, namely, traps, Velcro and folk recipes. And only if there are a lot of flies in the house, you should use chemicals. We must remember their toxicity, observe safety measures, and follow the instructions exactly.
If none of the products used helped and there is already a swarm of flies flying around the apartment, you should seek help from professionals who will carry out pest control.
Frequently asked questions about flies
For more information about flies and how to get rid of them, check out the answers to these common questions.
What are flies
If you notice a cluster of flies in a small area, it could be a sign of rotting food or garbage, an accident involving pet waste, or a dead animal.
But often flies around the house are not a “sign” of anything specific - the insects have simply arrived and are looking for a suitable place to feed and breed.
What smell will repel flies
Lavender, eucalyptus, mint, basil, cinnamon and lemongrass are all natural things that repel flies. Flies also don't like the strong smell of camphor, an organic compound.
How to avoid flies in your apartment?
Protecting your home from flies is much easier than fighting insects already flying in it. Moreover, you don’t need to do anything special for this. The main thing is to maintain cleanliness and follow a few simple rules:
- in the warm season, install mosquito nets on the windows;
- Take out the trash every day, wash the trash can, and close it with a lid;
- immediately after eating, clear the table, throw away leftovers, clean up, etc.;
- do not leave dirty dishes in the sink;
- regularly do wet cleaning in the kitchen, wash the stove, sink;
- avoid dampness, make sure there are no leaks, water houseplants moderately, wring out sponges and rags thoroughly;
- If possible, store vegetables and fruits in the refrigerator, periodically sort through them, throw away those that begin to spoil;
- carefully inspect fruits, vegetables and herbs before purchasing so that there are no eggs laid on them;
- Seal the ventilation holes in the house with fine mesh.
These recommendations will help you avoid many problems that may arise if flies appear and breed in your house.
Proven ways to fight
Basic Rules:
- keep the apartment clean;
- do not wait until a lot of garbage accumulates in the bucket, especially food waste;
- put mosquito nets on the windows;
- get rid of dampness in the premises;
- attach gratings with small cells to the air vents;
- do not leave food on the table after a meal;
- do general cleaning, recycle or give away old things cluttering your home;
- wash the windows well, restore wooden frames;
- do not leave leftover food on the table, remove rotten fruits and vegetables into bins in a timely manner;
- exclude unsanitary conditions: dirt combined with dampness and an abundance of food is a suitable habitat for flies.
Chemicals
Insecticides and chemical repellents for flies:
- Clean house (aerosol and dust).
- Mosquitoll.
- Off.
- Raptor.
- Raid.
- Dichlorvos Neo.
- Byte fly.
- Mashenka (cockroach chalk).
During disinsection, it is important to protect the organs of vision, breathing, hands, and face. An old sweater, trousers, shirt, medical gloves and a mask are mandatory attributes of a “home exterminator”’s wardrobe. After treatment, you need to wash your face, hands, rinse your mouth, and leave the apartment for a while.
Folk remedies
Flies cannot tolerate certain types of odors. This feature can be used to remove pests. First, you need to put your home in perfect order: thoroughly wash the windows, ventilate your home, sort out the trash in the hallway, pantry, balcony, mezzanine, fix leaks in the bathroom or toilet.
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Repels flies:
- orange peels;
- onion juice;
- clove buds;
- lavender ether;
- bouquets of wormwood, mint, thyme, bay leaf.
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The smell of cleanliness combined with strong aromas creates an unfavorable environment for flies. It is necessary to periodically rub cabinets, kitchen shelves, flowerpots with essential oils, and update bouquets in the apartment so that insects experience discomfort in the room. Pests do not tolerate the smell of camphor. You can fry a few drops of camphor oil in a dry frying pan and carry the container around the rooms. After fumigation, not only flies disappear from the apartment, but also mosquitoes.
Other control methods
You can get rid of flying pests using simple and effective means:
- duct tape;
- homemade traps from a plastic jar with sugar syrup/wine/vinegar and a film with holes stretched on top;
- electric flycatcher;
- trap for mosquitoes and other insects.
