FACTS & INFORMATION ABOUT FLIES FROM ONTARIO'S LEADING PEST CONTROL COMPANY

There are more than 120,000 species of flies. Around the world this number is quite possibly much larger. They are grouped into genera and families. The most common flies that are more familiar are house flies, cluster flies, deer flies and horse flies. Within the genus and family of flies they share the same habits such as feeding from blood, filth breeding or small flies.

Biting flies such as mosquitos and horse flies feed on blood to survive. They are most active on warm, humid days and lay their eggs in compostable materials such as mulch and near bodies of water. 

Filth flies such as house flies, drain flies, phorid flies and blow flies, do not feed on blood, instead they are known for being extremely unsanitary and spreading diseases. They lay their eggs in garbage, feces or carcasses. Filth flies easily transmit diseases and are known to be the cause of over a million deaths every year. The females collect pathogens on their legs while laying eggs on feces, trash or animal corpses. It takes only a matter of seconds for them to transfer diseases including typhoid, cholera, dysentery, salmonella, anthrax and tuberculosis.

Small flies such as the fruit fly prefer to eat fruit or other sugary substances. They use these types of sites for feeding and also breeding. Eating food infested by fruit flies can lead to intestinal discomfort.