Florida is a state known for its citrus and vast fields of strawberries and other sweet, southern fruits. On top of that, Florida is also known for its beautiful nature, coastlines, and year round warm weather. But there’s a consequence to such idealistic conditions. And that, sadly is that the bugs love these conditions just as much as we do. So we’ll get into Florida fly control today and talk about both some biting and non-biting species.
Florida Fly Control: Filth Breeding Flies
Filth breeding flies are the more common type of pest fly. They’re known by this name because they only breed in specific disgusting environments. That includes places like animal waste, animal carcasses, garbage, and decaying plant matter. The best way to manage these kinds of flies is to reduce the suitable amount of breeding environments for them in your home. Let’s get into some of the more common filth breeding flies you’ll need some Florida fly control for. Starting with:
House flies
The house fly is one of the most common insects worldwide. It has a globe spanning distribution and is a pest in houses, barns, farms, food processing plants, casual areas, and basically anywhere human activity takes place. It has a tremendous breeding potential as well. In warm weather seasons, these flies can produce a generation of young in less than two weeks. In many parts of Florida, they breed year round due to the lack of cold.
House flies, as I mentioned above, breed in filth. These fly’s eggs are laid in almost any time of warm organic material. Animal manure, for example, is a great breeding medium for them. Grass clippings, garbage, and compost piles are other favorites as well.
House flies are strong fliers and can become widely distributed by flying, wind currents, vehicles, and animals. Generally, however, flies are abundant in the immediate vicinity of their breeding site. Under certain conditions, they may migrate one to four miles but are usually limited to one-half to two miles.
House flies feed by using their spongy mouthparts. This is so gross that you’re really gonna want to call for some Florida fly control after. As the fly moves about from one food source to another, it samples and eats its food by regurgitating liquid and dropping it on the food to liquefy it. Light-colored spots called fly specks are visible signs of this type of feeding. Darker fly specks associated with house flies are fecal spots.
Flesh Flies
Flesh flies are a scavenger fly species that feed on carrion or meat scraps left in your kitchen garbage can or dumpsters. They are slightly larger than house flies and have three dark stripes on their back. Many of the common species have a red tip on their abdomen and red eyes.
Female flesh flies actually hold onto their eggs inside of their body 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 eight to 21 days.
The preferred breeding media around residences are decayed flesh, spoiling meat, and manure. Usually, garbage cans, 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.
Blow Flies and bottle flies
Up next on our list of flies that need Florida fly control are blow and bottle flies. These guys are a real problem, especially in central Florida. The green bottle flies, blue bottle flies, and bronze bottle flies are really bad in Brandon, in particular. In fact, in some parts of central Florida bottle and blow flies outnumber house flies!
The blow flies and bottle flies usually have a metallic blue, green, or both colors 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.
Blow flies and bottle flies can breed on dead rodents and 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 nine to 21 days from egg to adult.
Florida Fly Control: Biting Flies
Now, if the filth flies above don’t have you running for help, here are some that might. Let’s touch on some of Florida’s biting fly species. The most common ones you’ll run into in the sunshine state are as follows:
- No-see-ums
- Yellow Flies
- Black Flies
- Deer Flies
All of these species feed on blood, and their bites result in itchy red welts. Some of these species are capable of spreading diseases to both humans and livestock. Many biting fly species in Florida cause huge problems, especially in rural counties. They breed and develop in the water near woods, swamps, and coastal areas. These all make up huge swaths of Florida’s ecosystem, and because of that you’ll find them basically everywhere.
No-see-ums are also called sandflies or biting midges, and are some of the most annoying pests in particular. They breed and are active in coastal areas and salt marshes, so if you have a lot of sand in your yard you may actually attract a few out.
Florida Fly Control: Conclusion
These are all serious, heavy duty pests if they reach the level of infestation. Do not try to deal with these insects on your own. Every species of fly breeds rapidly, so improper use of pesticides not only won’t get rid of them, you’ll end up breeding poison resistant insects! Instead, contact a pest control specialist you can trust. Either visit our website at insectfree.com or give us a call to set up a consultation.
