A Review of Alternative Controls for House Flies

SIMPLE SUMMARY: People hate house flies, considering them both a nuisance and a health risk. Most fly suppression is based on insecticides, but more creative, environmentally friendly options exist and should be used when applicable. Cleaning up materials that attract flies, especially those producing enticing aromas, is a basic fly control strategy. Similarly, eliminating materials, e.g., animal wastes and garbage, in which maggots can develop is a critical means for reducing future adult populations. Preventing flies from entering buildings is the first line of defense, followed by efficacious methods for catching and killing flies that do manage to gain entry. Flies can be excluded from buildings with properly maintained air curtains, fans, slat doors, mesh screens on windows and doors, and by keeping entry doors closed. Potential fly harborage, e.g., vending machines, racks for newspapers or circulars, ash trays, shrubbery, or other fly resting sites, should not be situated near entry doors. If flies enter, they can be managed with ultraviolet light traps, window traps, window stickers, sticky tubes, sticky ribbons, insecticide sprays, baits, timed-release aerosols, and the classic fly swatter. In urban areas, fly management usually amounts to killing adult flies produced elsewhere faster than they arrive on site. ABSTRACT: House flies are the most prevalent synanthropic pest worldwide. Although they seldom reproduce in homes, they invade buildings, cause annoyance, and carry pathogens. Urban pest management personnel are limited in their ability to locate and manage larval habitats, so most house fly management in urban settings focuses on adult fly suppression. Sanitation is probably the most critical component, eliminating odors that attract flies. Source reduction applies where larval habitats can be identified and eliminated. Exclusion involves keeping flies out of structures. Despite all efforts, flies will manage to enter the human environment, so exclusion includes air curtains, fans, screened windows, and doors. Ultraviolet light traps attract and immobilize, while window traps entice flies into devices that entrap them. Sticky tubes and ribbons rely on flies’ inclination to land on vertical lines to entangle them in glue. Even low-tech fly swatters can play significant roles in eliminating individual flies. Timed-release aerosol pyrethrin dispensers can be effective against flies confined in enclosed spaces. Toxic baits have limited use in urban settings. Chemical suppression remains a critical component of fly IPM, essential in situations requiring immediate fly elimination.