The pest flies are not new to anyone living across the United States. Two types tend to buzz around you and your home: house fly and the fruit fly. This has made some people to wonder if they live for long. No. Flies do not live long. They have a short lifespan but their reproduction rate is so high that people find it hard to control. Life Cycle of a Fly As with most insects, flies have four developmental stages.
- Egg: The egg stage is mostly started by female flies. They lay their eggs on a food source as that is the most suitable environment for the eggs. What they consider as an ideal site is a place their eggs can hatch and begin to feed immediately. Some good examples of such locations are a pile of trash, feces or other damps, decomposing organic materials.
- Larvae: The egg hatches and turns to larvae. Sometimes, these hatching periods might not be up to 24 hours. Their hatching into food sources helps them to feed immediately without worry about anything. House flies or fruit flies egg can hatch into larvae in one day or a week. But most of the process had never exceeded a week. Many of these fly larvae would then feast for days or weeks on the source of food they found themselves. Here, they are storing up protein as well as other nutrients that would help them last through the next stage, which to become a pupa.
- Pupae: After a while, they change to pupae. Here, they will leave their food source and explore dry, dark places, where they would eventually pupate. During this period, their bodies will begin to the larvae into adults. And this becomes visible with the popping out of six legs that would aid their ground movement. Then, they will grow compound eyes that have been known to help them see the tiniest bit of food. Then, they get a pair of wings, which is there to enhance their movement.
- Adults: In a few days, they become a full-grown adult. Now, they can use their full body parts that grow out. This time, all these body parts are now stronger and firmer.
- The lifespan of an average fly is a month.
- During this period, the female flies can lay between five and six batches of eggs.
- Their reproduction is not seasonal. In fact, they reproduce every time of the year.
- Their rate of reproduction is higher in the summer.
- Fruit flies die after living between 40 to 50 days.
- They can also reproduce several generations during these days.
- A female fruit fly is capable of producing about 500 off springs.
- Repairing Window Screens: Seek out every hole worth repairing on your window screen. Closing them up will help you in preventing these flies from getting into your home, thus preventing the diseases that come with them.
- Clean Trash: Ensure your trash is duly disposed of as this is one way to rid your home of their breeding space. Ensure you clean your garbage container also.
- Clean Your Sink Drain: Another thing worth cleaning is your sink drains. They can easily breed in these places.
- Use Experts: There are cases of infestation that might require special treatments, you should seek an expert. Using pesticides can be dangerous. So, call on trained professionals to help you get rid of them. They are trained in these things and would do justice to it.