Fly Problems? How to Treat a Fly Infestation

Summertime is prime time for flies to increase activity and become a problem for the do it yourself pest controller. There are many of types of flies that can cause a problem in our homes.  There are house flies, fruit flies, blue and green bottle flies, and moth flies.  Flies are prolific proliferators and eat most anything. Some flies can lay 150 eggs at a time, every 5-6 days.  Not only are they annoying, they can be carriers of numerous diseases and pathogens. In this article, we discuss ways to treat and limit a fly infestation.

Ohio State Extension Program says:

Domestic flies, often called "Filth Flies," are not only a nuisance by their presence, but are important from a human and animal health standpoint.  House flies may spread diseases such as conjunctivitis, poliomyelitis, typhoid fever, tuberculosis, anthrax, leprosy, cholera, diarrhea and dysentery. They may serve as intermediate hosts for parasitic tapeworms on poultry or parasitic roundworms on horses.

Luckily, there are a now plethora of pest control products to address our fly pest problems available to the general public. There are insecticide sprays, fly lights, fly baits, fly traps and treatments. Some treatments such as contact sprays are good for the immediate treatment of unwanted flies. Whereas other fly treatment options, such as fly traps and fly lights provide an ongoing support system to keep fly infestations under control.   

It is important to determine if your fly problem is only a fleeting instance, or associated with an ongoing breeding site. The treatment method for each situation would be different. For instance, have you only had fly issues during a gathering where food was outside for extended periods of time or do you constantly notice fly activity in and around your home?

For the first situation, you may only need to spray the outdoor area that will be used for your gathering a few hours before guests arrive. For the second situation, you may have a fly breeding site in or around your home.  In that instance, the breeding site would need to be located and eliminated. But you would also want to use a combination of baits and residual insecticide sprays to control the existing fly population and stop them from entering your residence.

There are other easy steps you can take to stop a fly infestation from happening in the first place:

• Be certain that your windows, screens and entry ways are sealed tightly and in good repair.
• Spray your entry ways and sills with a residual insecticide
• Use time released pyrethrin sprays
• Do not locate trash cans located near any entry ways.
• Empty cans regularly, and wash them out weekly with a good bleach bath.
• Use only trash cans with locking lids
• Keep food covered at all times
• Wipe up any crumbs, etc immediately
• Don’t leave produce on the counter without cover
• Check any cracks between your appliances and counter tops to be sure that there are no trapped food particles
• Keep the backs of cabinets clean and clear from excess storage items or clutter
• Review under sinks and appliances to be certain that there is no accumulation of food or moisture
• Do not leave any standing water or food build up in drains
• Regularly flush your drains to remove any ‘gunk’ that may be building up on the insides of pipes.

Controlling Pests on Pets

Pet lover’s, who also live in the deep and humid south, know how expensive and time consuming it can be to keep your pets safe and free from insect pests.  Mosquitoes that can carry heartworms and cause allergic reactions, while fleas and tick that carry a number of vector borne illnesses, as well as tape worms. A conscientious pet owner can easily spend $400 a year, minimizing they’re pets exposure to dangerous fleas and mosquitoes. In this article we will discuss the insect risks to our furry family members and ways to control infestations in our home and yard.

Both fleas and mosquitoes are extremely difficult pests to control in the warmer weather of the south. Given the opportunity, mosquitoes, ticks and fleas will completely take over your home and yard to make it their own, leaving your family pet as a 24 hour buffet.  The ideal situation is to make sure that your pet has protection against these nuisance pests and that they are also controlled for the sake of your family.

To keep your pet safe from mosquito borne diseases: It is imperative that your canine be on a heart worm preventative. There are options for injections that can last up to six months, or monthly ‘pills’ that you are able to administer at home. Although, no product can claim 100% efficacy, this dramatically reduces the possibility that your dog will develop heartworms. You should also try to keep your family pet inside during high mosquito traffic times, like dawn and dusk. If you are using a topical flea and tick controller application, there are some that include mosquito repellant as well. There are natural options that can repel mosquitoes and minimize the possibility that he is bitten at all. It is said that lavender, peppermint and geranium essential oils repel mosquitoes. Other reported effective natural repellents include lemon, cedar, eucalyptus, myrrh, neem and rosewood. You can try this by putting a few drops between the dogs or cats shoulder blades or on their collar.

In order to minimize fleas and ticks on and around your pets, monthly topical repellants are a good option. Especially the water proof types for pets that are in and out of doors regularly. Natural repellants such as Lavender, lemongrass and geranium repel ticks.  Lavender, lemongrass, peppermint and citronella are said to repel fleas.  Be sure to consult with your veterinarian to see if your pet is a good candidate for topical applications. Newly developed products offer fewer side effects than when they were initially developed. Be careful of strong pesticide applications on your pet, they can be toxic.

You must also be diligent about keeping fleas and mosquitoes out of your home and yard.  Mosquitoes need moisture to breed, so remove all standing water. If mosquito insecticide sprays, mists, or foggers are used for treatment of your home or yard, remove your family and pets until the area has dried completely.  Some products like Diatomaceous earth and Insect Growth Regulators offer control with less impact on our environment. Although, they will not kill the insect pests immediately, they will help you keep your insect populations under control. 

Use IGR's for Flea Control

Insect Growth Regulators are a relatively newer class of pest control agents that have less harmful effects on our environment. In this article, we will discuss ways that Insect Growth Regulators can be used to control flea infestations for the do it yourself pest controller. Insect growth regulators were developed by entomologists as they studied the growth cycle of insects. Insect grow regulators are much more specific to insect development and therefore have less impact on other life forms, including mammals. Insect growth regulators can perform their magic my mimicking juvenile growth hormones in insects and either altering the production of chitin (the compound insects use to make their exoskeleton) or by altering an insect's development into adulthood. In some cases, the insect will develop too quickly, in other cases, IGR’s stop development. Most other pesticides work by delivering neurotoxins to the pests, and since basically most animals neurological functioning is similar, the pesticides are toxic to numerous organisms. IGR’s circumvent this by delivering the chemical directly relative to that pests biology to alter development. This gives the do it yourself pest controller an additional tool against pests that can be used with much more peace of mind. Why Use Insect Growth Regulators: • They Target Specific Pests • Less impact on our environment • Decrease chances of insects developing resistence • Breaks the life cycle of the pest In regards to controlling flea infestations, IGR’s are a godsend. Fleas have four life stages and have different needs in each. The different life stages have different requirements for the flea, and different requirements for controlling the flea. A pesticide that kills the adult flea may have no effect on the developing eggs or larvae. But the IGR acts on the immature stages of a flea’s life cycle. Flea eggs deposited on or flea larvae crawling onto treated surfaces will not develop into adult fleas. If an IGR is not used, you will have adult fleas again bouncing around your home within four weeks. By using an IGR, you have broken the life cycle of the flea and can effectively contain your flea infestation. The do it yourself pest controller must also be certain to treat outdoor areas and pets for fleas at the same time that the home is treated so that your fleas are not being continually reintroduced to your living area. If your yard is infested with fleas, you can be sure that they will find their way in doors, so it is important to contain the outside infestation as well. Indoors, there are some items that you will not want to spray with pesticides, such as bedding, pillows, stuffed animals, etc. Be sure to wash all of these items in a hot water cycle on your washer to kill any fleas/eggs that might have found their way there.

Termidor-You Can't Afford Not To

Termidor®b> is 100% effective at controlling 100% of termites in three months or less - a statement no other termite control product can make. That's why since its introduction in 2000, pest management professionals have made Termidor America's leading termite control, with more than one million structures treated. It's the product's unique "Transfer Effect™," allowing Termidor to achieve 100% control of termite populations at the very low rate of just 0.06% active ingredient. And because Termidor is a non-repellent - undetectable to termites - the pests freely forage through treated areas, unknowingly ingesting, picking up and transferring Termidor throughout the population •A 20 oz bottle of Termidor Termiticide will make 25 gallons of finished solutions. •Apply product at a rate of 4 finished gallons per 10 linear feet. •Product will treat 62.5 linear feet of structure for termite control •This is the same active ingredient in Frontline Drops you put on your pets for fleas and ticks. •Kills all types of drywood and Subterranean and Formosan termites

Demand CS Insecticide

Demand CS Insecticide Knockdown For Almost Any Insect! Check out what Demand CS can do for you.... For superior control of general and nuisance pests including mosquitoes, ants, flying insects and spiders, harness the power of iCAP™ Technology with Demand® CS Insecticide - A Powerful Insect Repellent. With a unique capsule suspension of the active ingredient, lambda-cyhalothrin, Demand achieves knockdown of most pests within 15 minutes, and delivers unsurpassed residual that lasts several months, even at extremely low use rates. •Demand CS Insecticide can be used against cockroaches, crickets, darkling, hide and litter beetles, mosquitoes, pill bugs, scorpions, spider mites ticks, ants, bees, box elder bugs, carpenter bees, carpet beetles, centipedes, cigarette beetles, clover mites, cockroaches, confused flour beetles, firebrats, silverfish, fleas, flies, grain borers, millipedes, flour beetles, weevils, sowbugs and wasps. Just about anything! •Can be used in homes, restaurants, hospitals, and even outdoors! •Demand CS Insecticide, is concentrated and microencapsulated for a long residual (200+ days) and can also be used outdoors.

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