What causes flies in the house and where are they coming from?

Almost everyone has, at some point asked this very familiar question; where do flies in the house come from. This question is likely to arise when faced with a stubborn or frustrating fly problem at home.

If you’re reading this, there’s a likelihood that you seek to find answers.

Another closely related question often raised has to do with whether flies have any use or benefit at all. Well, although annoying, flies indeed benefit the environment. They help in pollination and also contribute to the breakdown of organic matter.

Here, our aim is to provide you with the best possible answers to this pressing question. As you read on, you’ll also find information on how to keep flies out of your home.

Where Do Flies Come From?

Flies come in all sorts of species with as many as 120,000 known species. They are prolific breeders with females laying as much as 600 eggs during their lifetime.

This explains why they’re found in almost every space.

SEE: Drain Flies Vs Fruit Flies

So, where exactly do these flies come from? The answer is simple; flies come from the outdoors.

These flying creatures are found wherever there’s ample supply of organic material to feed on. Places such as landfills, garbage bins, exposed decomposing organic material all serve to attract them.

They lay their eggs in such areas which results in more offspring being birthed. Now, you may wonder why you’re seeing houseflies in indoor environments such as your house. Isn’t the outdoors enough for them already? Well, it is.

However, certain conditions within homes serve to attract them.

Sometimes, may choose to breed within homes if garbage bins are left unattended to and dirty. Flies also get attracted to fruits and vegetables, spilled sugary substances and all sorts of organic material.

As long as these conditions exist indoors, flies will come around to have a feast and also breed.

Staying Close to Their Origins

Flies are known to stay as close as possible to their origins.

By this, we’re simply referring to where they were hatched. Flies will generally stay within a mile of where they were hatched. In extreme cases, flies are known to travel or live as far away as 20 miles from their place of origin.

This ability to travel great distances makes it even more likely to spot them around your home especially when you don’t practice good hygiene.

What Attracts Flies?

In discussing where flies come from, such discussion is never complete without identifying what attracts them. With this information, you tend to have better luck with prevention. The type of flies around your home will indicate what attracts them.

Now, out of the several fly species, houseflies are the most common and mostly found around homes. These are mainly attracted to decaying filth or organic matter. Other types of flies include drain flies and fruit flies. These have been named according to what they are attracted to.

As suggested by the name, fruit flies get attracted to sugary substances which are abundant in overripe fruits. Drain flies on the other hand will feed and breed in drains.

Indoor Attraction

Whenever you find flies within your home, there’s one condition or several that attracts them. Knowing what these conditions are goes a long way in helping you avoid them. Open cans or bottles of alcohol as well as spill soda serve as favorable conditions.

Others include uncovered or exposed garbage cans, fermenting fruits, animal carcasses within or around your home especially in areas such as attics and within walls. Scum coating at the bottom and inside of drains also attracts flies.

What more? Pet feces and manure are inviting to flies.

With these sources of attraction, the focus shouldn’t be about where flies come from but rather what attracts them. This question will need to be asked and fully answered to enable you take appropriate preventive measures.

During winter season, cluster flies are known to shelter inside structures to see-out the cold period. Such shelter serves as protection for them until weather conditions become favorable enough.

Why You Should be Concerned About Fly Presence

Apart from the fact that flies help in the breakdown of organic substances which is beneficial, they also pose health risks. Flies are known to harbor over 65 illnesses which can easily be transmitted to people through food poisoning.

There’s a long list of diseases caused by flies which we cannot fully exhaust here. Such life-threatening diseases include Typhoid fever, Cholera, Tuberculosis, Conjunctivitis, Shigellosis, Dysentery, Salmonellosis, and Gastroenteritis.

The best way to prevent these diseases from being transmitted is by focusing on preventive measures. Preventive measures are generally cheaper and more efficient than any other solution (such as having to fight back an existing fly problem).

Fly Prevention

Having identified where flies come from as well as what attracts them into your house; it’s necessary and logical to take far-reaching preventive measures. These basically involve getting rid of the conditions that are suitable and attractive to flies.

In doing so, you’ll need to focus on your garbage cans, and the removal of any and all decaying organic materials.

Other preventive measures include clearing out and properly disposing fermenting or rotting vegetables and fruits, and clearing out sewage sludge and all solid organic waste in open drains.

Your garbage or trash cans must not only be emptied frequently, it should also be washed clean as frequent as possible. All of these conditions contribute to keeping flies at bay, thus leaving your home free of these pests.

Additional Protection against Flies

In a bid to take back control of your space, you’ll need to do whatever you can.

One of the effective ways to control flies includes the installation of window and door screens. This helps keep them out while allowing cross ventilation.

Every opening apart from doors and windows can also be screened. That way, your home is kept free flies.

So far, we’ve been able to discuss the origins of flies and why they find your home attractive. Flies will always gravitate to wherever they find favorable conditions.

Such conditions have been provided above. You only need to strip your surroundings of such conditions to keep your home free of flies.

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