How to get rid of Flies

• Keep your home clean.
• Remove trash regularly and seal your garbage cans.
• Clean up pet waste immediately.
• Use fine mesh screen on doors and windows to prevent flies from getting into your home.
• Make flypaper strips at home to catch flies.
• Use plastic water bags to keep flies away.
• Try apple cider vinegar to trap fruit flies.
• Use homemade file repellent with lavender oil.
• Use Eucalyptus oil on cloth strips near window sills or doors to prevent them from entering.

What should I do if I have fruit flies?

• Get rid of the overripe fruit and veggies (seal in plastic bags and bin it outside, or dig it deep into the compost heap)
• Wipe up any spillages, including water from surfaces in the home
• Clean any surfaces with fly spotting (this is the vomit from the adult flies, which is also an attractant for other flies).  Hot, soapy water will work.
• Use a vinegar fly trap for the adults.

Things you can do in your home to avoid fruit flies?

• Always inspect fruit and veggies at the shop.
• Don’t allow fruit to become overripe (good idea to rotate fruit in your fruit bowl, or keep what you can in the fridge).
• Use a fly mesh or net over fruit and veggies.
• Make sure your fly screens are in good condition, and your doors and windows are well sealed.
• Remove organic rubbish from the house on a regular basis (daily is the best, and try not to leave overnight).
• Keep a lid on your bin (this restricts flies from getting access).
• Clean up spills and waste from benches and floors as soon as possible.

Because Flies carry many health risks and transmit diseases, you should do all you can to keep fly populations to a minimum. A few Flies can turn into an infestation very quickly.

If you think you might have a Flie infestation in your home you will need to contact Knockout Pest Control by Rentokil for a pest inspection.

You can call our service team on 1300 858 140. or you can send us an email by using the Contact Form by clicking here >

What are Flies

True flies are insects of the order Diptera (from the Greek di = two, and ptera = wings). Their most obvious distinction from other orders of insects is that a typical fly possesses a pair of flight wings on the mesothorax and a pair of halteres, derived from the hind wings, on the metathorax. (Some species of flies are exceptional in that they are secondarily flightless).

The only other order of insects bearing two true, functional wings plus any form of halteres are the Strepsiptera, and in contrast to the flies, the Strepsiptera bear their halteres on the mesothorax and their flight wings on the metathorax.

There are many signs of a Fly infestation, Visit our Signs of Flying Insects page for more information on the Signs of Flies here >

Facts about flies

• House flies cannot bite as their mouth parts are only made for taking semi solid and liquid foods.
• A Housefly defecates about 300 times in a single day i.e. once in every 4-5 minutes.
• Houseflies are equipped with glue oozing toe-pads and this helps them to walk upside down.
• They can breed all year round in warm climates as apposed to cooler climates where breeding usually stops before winter.

Types of Flies

There are many types of Flies in Australia, but the two main types you might encounter are the Australian Bush Fly and The Housefly.

The Housefly

The housefly (also house fly, house-fly or common housefly), Musca domestica, is a fly of the suborder Cyclorrhapha. It is the most common of all domestic flies, accounting for about 91% of all flies in human habitations, and indeed one of the most widely distributed insects, found all over the world. It is considered a pest that can carry serious diseases.

The adults are about 5–8 mm long. Their thorax is gray or sometimes even black, with four longitudinal dark lines on the back. The whole body is covered with hair-like projections. The females are slightly larger than the males, and have a much larger space between their red compound eyes. The mass of pupae can range from about 8 to 20 mg under different conditions.

Australian Bush Fly

Musca vetustissima is a species of fly found in Australia, more commonly known as the Australian bush fly. The bush fly is a dung fly that is closely related to the bazaar fly (M. sorbens). The adults are attracted to large mammals for fluid for nourishment and feces for oviposition.

Other Flies Include:

• Horse Fly (Family tabanidae)
• Bluebottle Fly (Calliphora vomitoria)
• Cluster Fly (Pollenia rudis)
• Sand Fly (Spiriverpa Lunulata)
• Fruit Fly (Drosophila species)
• House Fly (Musca domestica)
• Drain Fly (Psychodidae)
• Fermentation Fly (Fermentation fly)
• Flesh Fly (Family – Sarcophagidae)
• Bush Fly (Musca vetustissima)