Flying Pests

Many people have their homes sprayed every month to protect themselves from all sorts of crawling insects. But, what do you do about the flying bugs that can cause problems in your home? There are a number of pests that can fly into our homes or are otherwise introduced. Several species of moths and a number of different kinds of flies are the most common pests.

Two species of clothes moths can be found in homes. The webbing clothes moth and the casemaking clothes moth can both damage certain fabrics. These moths are weak fliers and are not attracted to lights as other types of moths are. They tend to hide and are not usually found until damaged fabrics, feathers, furs or similar items are noticed.

The webbing clothes moth is the most common species. The adult moths are golden colored with reddish-gold hairs on top of their head. The casemaking clothes moth is similar, but has several spots on the wings. Why do you need to know the difference? The pheromone traps that you can use to control clothes moths only work for the webbing clothes moth. They do not have a pheromone trap that will control the casemaking clothes moth. The pheromone traps attract and catch the male moths and stop the breeding process.

Another moth you can frequently find in homes is the pantry moth. There are several different species found in dried foods, but the Indian meal moth is by far the most common. It can easily be recognized by their two-toned wings. They can also be controlled using a Flour Moth Pheromone Trap. You also have to find and discard all the food they may be infesting.

There are a number of different kinds of flies that can be found in and around homes and it is important to know the difference as some can cause problems, some are an indicator of another problem and some are innocuous. The following flies are common in most parts of the country.

House flies have a gray thorax (part where head is connected and wings are attached) with four dark stripes, and a mottled abdomen (posterior portion). These flies are considered “filth flies” and will feed on excrement, garbage, carcasses, and even human secretions from wounds and mucous membranes. If you accidentally eat the larvae (maggots) in contaminated food, they can survive in your intestine.

Little house flies resemble house flies but they fly in circles in the middle of a room or on a porch and don’t appear to land. They can lay their eggs in any organic material including compost piles, pet feces, dead leaves, etc. They have been known to enter the urinary tract of sleeping persons and causing urinary myiasis.

Blow flies are larger than house flies and are normally shiny green, blue, bronze or black in color. Blow flies feed on decaying animal matter and if you have them in your house it is an indication of a dead animal in the wall or ceiling. These flies are also used by forensic entomologists to establish the time of death in human fatalities.

Flesh flies resemble house flies but differ in only having three stripes on a gray thorax. Some species lay their eggs in foul smelling dead animal matter while others will lay their eggs in open wounds on horses, cattle and other animals. There was a case in Albuquerque several years ago where these flies laid their eggs in the festering wound of a person in a nursing home. One species can lay their eggs in the noses or eyes of humans causing myiasis, which can be serious.

Moth flies are small flies with hairy wings that resemble small moths. They are usually found in the bathroom. They will breed in the gunk buildup in drains and will often be found in the tub, on shower curtains or the wall. They are poor flies and seem to just hop around.

Fungus gnats are usually associated with over-watered houseplants. You can let your plants dry out almost to the point of wilting before re-watering. Then put about an inch of aquarium gravel on the potting soil. This will prevent female fungus gnats from laying more eggs in the potting soil, but will allow watering of the plant. You can also place a yellow sticky trap on a stick in the soil to catch the adult gnats.

Other flies are also found in and around homes, but these are the most common. You certainly don’t want any of these flies around schools, day care centers, hospitals, nursing homes, animal shelters or other areas where they can infect people or animals If you have a fly problem, a good electric flytrap works well but they are expensive. I use an apple cider vinegar trap at our place. I monitor and identify the flies around my home with a simple flytrap. I cut the top off several plastic water bottles; invert the top into the lower portion forming a funnel. I put about two inches of apple cider vinegar in the bottle with a quarter teaspoon of sugar. Almost all flies, not matter what their normal food preference, will enter the trap. I then pour them out through a sieve, let them dry and identify them.

Gallon size milk jugs cut as described above and baited with apple cider vinegar and sugar will catch a lot of flies in a large building or yard.

Of course if you don’t recognize your flies, you can call a pest control professional. Any competent professional will instantly recognize all of the flies I mentioned. If they can’t, I can ID them for you.

While discussing flying insects, we can’t overlook the honeybee. Honeybees are on the decline in many parts of the world and scientists aren’t sure of the cause, although there are several theories. Experts are describing this mysterious threat as “Colony Collapse Disorder” (CCD). In some parts of the country, U.S. beekeepers estimate they have lost between 50 and 90 per cent of their honeybees. Not only are bees crucial to the agriculture industry in the production of honey, they also work as pollinators. Roughly 75% of flowering plants require pollinators to bear fruit, including crops that produce the resources needed for drugs and fuel. Albert Einstein once said that if all the honeybees in the world died off, plants and animals would soon follow and the human race would become extinct in four years.

One theory is that the over use of pesticides is contributing to the die-off of the bees. When the mosquito trucks spray entire neighborhoods with insecticides in a feeble effort to control mosquitoes, they probably kill more honeybees than they do pests. The same can be said for the pest control person who sprays trees on a breezy day causing the pesticides to move off-target, land on flowering plants, ultimately killing any bees that come to the plants to feed. Spraying forests for caterpillars and other perceived pests could also negatively affect the honeybee population. I would recommend putting a moratorium on all mosquito spraying, all forest pesticide applications and all lawn and ornamental pesticide spraying until this problem is solved and the honeybees can rebuild their population and continue pollinating our valuable plants.