General
The house-fly and the small house-fly are the two fly species that are most common indoors in the Netherlands. The house-fly is 7-8 mm long, has a grey breast plate (thorax) with 4 black stripes and an abdomen with a yellow base (less so in the females). The small house-fly is thinner and is 5-7 mm long, has a brown thorax and an abdomen with three yellow rings and triangular faces on its back. Both fly species are herbivores and are common in manure, waste, dead animals and food.

Lifestyle
All fly species undergo a complete transformation (metamorphosis). This means that these insects go through 4 life states during their development into adult fly, being egg, larvae, pop and imago (adult insect). The female of the house-fly lays about 600-2000 eggs of about 1mm long in series of 100-150. The female of the small house-fly lays 200-600 eggs in groups of 30-70 each. The eggs are laid on all kinds of rotting material such as droppings or waste. After 1-3 days, the larvae crawls out of the egg and starts pupating after about 1 week. The pupal stadium takes about 3-8 days in the house-fly and 10-30 days in the small house-fly. The males die briefly after mating, the females live 2-3 months.

Damage
In addition to the fact that flies can be very annoying, they are also known as notorious disease spreaders. They carry all kinds of pathogens and viruses on their legs, mouth and hairs and their droppings which pose a hazard for people and pets.

Prevention
Fly nuisance can often be minimized by taking the proper control measure such as: timely removal of waste. Using properly sealable waste bins and containers. In farms, dispose of manure as soon as possible and keep manure gutters and stable floors clean. Don’t leave food and ingredients for food uncovered. Where possible, apply mosquito nets, fly screens, ribbon curtains or flap doors.

Control
Fighting flies is only useful after the necessary prevention measures have been taken. There are a lot of methods for exterminating flies, such as fly strips, electrical fly swatters, fly traps for indoors or outdoors, treatment of resting places of flies with insecticide and treatment of fertilizer to eliminate maggots. The EWS exterminator is happy to inform you about what methods are most suitable for your situation.