Flies are one of the UK’s most common pests, most of us find there constant buzzing around very annoying, but they can also pose a health risk, particularly in businesses within the food or pharmaceutical industry. With this said flies are quite fascinating insects and our team at Advance Pest Control Bristol have put together 9 interesting facts about flies that you probably never knew!
Fly Facts
- House Flies Live on A Liquid Diet – A fly doesn’t have any mouthparts, so they have no ability to chew solid foods, instead they liquidise all their food by regulating their digestive juices to break down solid foods into small pieces to allow them to drink it.
- Flies Taste with Their Feet – Flies have taste receptors in their feet and lower legs called Chemonsensilla. So, when a fly lands on food they tend to have a walk around so they can taste it first!
- House Flies Poo A Lot – Because of the flies liquid diet their digestive system works incredibly fast causing them to poo a lot! A fly will poo anywhere and it is thought that every time a fly lands on a surface it will poo, even if it is on the food they are about to eat.
- Flies Can Spread Disease – due to the flies’ diet they often come into contact with harmful diseases such as Salmonella and E-coli. Then can then spread this by contaminating food and cooking utensils.
- Flies Can Walk Upside Down – This may be one you already knew; however, flies can walk on any surface, vertical, horizontal or upside down. This is possible because they have footpads called pilvilli which have small hairs with the ability to produce a glue-like substance allowing them to have a good grip on any surface.
- Flies Can See Behind Them – House files have compound eyes which allow them to see almost 360 degrees. Being able to see in every direction allows flies to look for danger whist still flying around, therefore they can be quite difficult to swat!
- The Don’t Live Long – The average lifespan of a fly is around 30 days, this doesn’t seem like long but they achieve a lot in that short space of time! Flies can lay around 500 eggs, so one little fly buzzing around your home can quickly turn into a huge infestation!
- They Have Quick Reactions – Flies are incredibly agile and quick to react, yet another reason why they are so difficult to swat. Flies can process and react to the information they see and react to it very fast. To put it into perspective our brains can process around 60 images a second whereas a fly can process around 250 images per second!
- Bad Breeding Habits – House flies lay their eggs on items such as rotting fruit and other foods so that when their larvae hatch they will have a good food source to start them off in life!
If you have noticed a fly infestation at your home or business, then it is best to get is sorted as soon as possible before it gets out of control! If you need fly control, then contact Advance Pest Control Bristol today – 07771503107
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