House Fly

The house fly is the most common fly found in homes, on farms and in barns. It is 1/4 of an inch long, gray in color, and often has black stripes on its thorax.

These pests are prevalent everywhere, moving quickly from one resting point to another. Their diet is widely varied, from human and animal food, to carcasses, garbage and excrement.

Eggs are laid 100 at a time anywhere that provides warmth and a food source for the young, which emerge in 12 to 24 hours. Females lay eggs within days after hatching, so populations grow rapidly in favorable conditions. Unsecured garbage is an ideal breeding ground for these pests.

House flies can be a big nuisance, but they also can be disease carriers, including spreading cholera, bacillary dysentery and infantile diarrhea.