Flies

Fly Identification Database

From small to large, black to brilliant, biting or not, flies are found world-wide. With unsanitary habits and a knack for annoying humans, flies can be a pest or a health hazard. There are “true” flies which always have two words in their names (house flies, horse flies, fruit flies) and all the rest that bear mash-up names (whiteflies, mayflies, dragonflies). Get rid of flies today.

How to Identify Flies

Science has described over 120,000 different flies. The actual number is probably larger. With so many types of flies, it is difficult to pin down a simple description. Flies can be tiny like the fruit fly or much larger. Their color can be dull black, glittering emerald or even blue. The do share one obvious common ability; they can fly. Most sport two wings and either six or four legs. Compound eyes give them a unique view of the world very unlike our own.

Problems they Cause

Some flies bite and can leave a painful welt like the horse fly. Biting flies are blood feeders and will make a meal of just about anything with a circulatory system, but they tend to favor the warm blood of mammals. Many types of flies breed in filth like animal feces or rotting organic matter. They have a disturbing habit of walking on kitchen counters, your food and your person after having just landed on that filth to lay eggs. They can spread germs and diseases between their breeding grounds and your home.

Seasonality Of Flies

Certain flies have a distinct season like the black flies of the Northeast which arrive in the early spring and stay till the early summer. Others don’t seem to ever leave or go dormant. Most flies won’t survive a hard frost and are most active when the weather is warm and humid. Don’t wait to get rid of flies today.