Ten Terrible / Interesting Fly Truths

Flies, anywhere in the world, whether New Zealand or here in the UK, are an absolute nuisance especially in summer.

They turn up uninvited to every summer occasion, test out your food, make your home their own, and set up camp for the long haul. You spray and you spray, and they still don’t falter. While I am not scared of flies like I am say rodents, I strongly detest their presence.

I have become aware, however, that despite the fact that flies are a complete nuisance… they are also very interesting creatures. I have put together a set of ‘Ten Terrible Fly Truths’ for you to consider. I warn you now, you may be surprised.

1. There are approximately 119,500 known species of flies world wide and nearly 7,000 of these species are living here in the UK.
2. The average house fly lives for around 30 days and within that month a pair of flies can lay up to 3,000 eggs.
3. Houseflies and Blowflies feed off liquids; however, can deal with solid matter by vomiting on them first.
4. All insects have four wings except flies. Most flies have 2 wings and a few species actually have no wings at all.
5. Flies have a sticky substance similar to glue on the bottom of their feet, this helps them easily stick to surfaces and ceilings.
6. Flies have terrible vision despite the fact that they have over 4,000 lenses per eye.
7. Flies have favourite colours: Red is their colour of choice followed by black, green, white, blue, orange, yellow and violet.
8. A maggot can turn into a fly within 24 hours and can begin mating within 3 days.
9. Females have a larger gap between their eyes then males; this gap is the best way to distinguish between a male and female.
10. In just one second a fly can travel 300 times the length of its body. In terms of scale this is more impressive than a Boeing 747.

Some of these are pretty amazing right? I was stunned to learn that flies have a favorite color, and the speed at which they travel in regards to their body length is astonishing.

Despite all this, it is important that we remember flies are a pest and when left untreated can have harmful implications on your friends, family and home/work environment. The rate at which flies reproduce can see an infestation develop extremely quickly and the longer you leave it – the harder it becomes to get rid of flies. Don’t let flies be the burden of your summer picnic or bbq. If you think you have a problem with flies, get effective fly control sorted sooner rather then later.