Houseflies are dirty beasts and they love to walk in the dirt and on fecal material so their surfaces are oftentimes contaminated with organisms that could cause human infections. Blow Fly Fruit Fly Cheese Fly Flesh Fly Fungus Gnat House Fly Moth Fly Soldier Fly Sphaerocerid Fly

Would you like flies with that burger? K-STATE ( Kansas State University) RESEARCHERS SAY BUG ZAPPERS MAY CAUSE MORE HARM THAN GOOD To battle these winged-nuisances, many people have installed or use an electrocuting insect trap or bug zapper. While the sizzling "zzzap" of the fly being fried -- or any other unfortunate insect lured to its jolting demise by this shocking siren. "The bug zapper is probably not the method of choice of killing insects because it might

The common House fly is medium sized (1/6 to 1/4 inch long,) generally gray in color with the female usually large than the male. The thorax bears four narrow black stripes. The female fly has a much wider space between the eyes than the male. House flies are often confused with Face flies. The house fly passes through four stages in its life cycle: egg, larva, pupa and adult. The female of the species can be seen depositing their eggs on suitable breeding materials. Often, the females c

Flesh flies are sometimes mistaken for house flies, due to their markings and coloration. Flesh flies are large than house flies, are gray in color and have a checkerboard pattern on the top of their abdomen. Its prothorax has three dark stripes; the house fly has four stripes on its prothorax. The primary breeding site for this flying pest is in or on dead animal carcasses, although they are also found in garbage. Flesh flies are helpful in forensic entomology because they are usually the

Fruit Fly Identification Fruit flies are small flies measuring about 1/8 inch in length, including their wings. Click here to see image of Fruit Fly. The key identifying characteristic of the fruit fly is its eyes, which are red in color. The head and thorax are tan in color with the abdomen somewhat darker. This fly is easily mistaken for the Phorid fly which has very similar markings but lacks red eye color. The Phorid fly also has a "humped back" appearance. Without the aid of a m

Blowflies, Greenbottle flies and Bluebottle flies are all common large flies, noted for their metallic blue or green coloration. These flies are often flying up and down in a window, making their characteristic buzzing sound. Blowflies are scavengers who deposit their eggs on decaying meat, fish, garbage, fecal matter and dead animals. These materials on which Blowflies deposit their eggs are the key in their elimination: find and eliminate these sources! Complete development (from

Cheese Skipper Identification Adult Cheese Skippers are black with bronze tints on the thorax. The eyes of this small fly are reddish-brown and the slightly iridescent wings are held flat over the body when at rest. The entire body is only about half the size of that of the common house fly. Life Cycle of Cheese Skipper The adult fly feeds on juices found in areas where they prefer to breed, living just long enough to mate and lay eggs. The female cheese skipper will lay approximat

Most species are black in color and very small (less than 1/16 inch) in size, although a few species may reach 1/4 inch long. Key identifying characteristics include long legs and long thin wings. See the Fungus Gnat image for detailed appearance. Fungus Gnat Biology These tiny pests belong to the families of flies called Fungivoridae and Sciaridae. Adult Fungus Gnats prefer to lay their eggs in moist potting soil, which is why buildings containing potted plants or atriums. Soon af

The key identifying character for the moth fly is the unique pattern of veins in its wings. The entire body and wings of the moth fly are covered with tiny hairs, giving it a moth-like appearance. To the naked eye, this tiny pest might appear to be a small fly with fat wings; the aid of a magnifying glass reveals the unmistakable moth-like appearance. This small fly is no more than 1/8 inch in length including the wings. They are usually black in color. Moth Fly Biology and Life His

These small flies have dark colored bodies and are about 1/8 inch in length, making proper identification difficult without magnification. The tarsi (last 5 segments of the hind leg) is the key to identifying the Sphaerocerid fly. On this particular fly, the first segment of the tarsi is greatly enlarged. Sphaerocerid Fly Biology and Life History The Sphaerocerid fly belongs to a large family of flies known as Sphaeroceridae which contains 241 species in North America. Most flies of