House Flies and Fruit Flies: What’s the Difference?
When you have a fly buzzing around your home, disturbing your peace, you don’t care what kind of fly it is—you just want it gone. A fly in your home once in a while isn’t a particular concern, (they often fly in through the window sometimes.) But incessant buzzing in the kitchen or throughout your home can be annoying, and might signal an infestation!
With flies, one size certainly doesn’t fit all, so it can be helpful to know just what kind of fly is buzzing around in your home. Here, we’ll go over the differences between a common house fly and fruit flies.
What’s That Fly: The Common House Fly
Aside from ants, the common housefly is one of the most easily identifiable insects. Seen commonly hovering around roadkill or fresh dung, the common housefly, albeit nasty, is a beneficial decomposer.
When it comes to appearance, house flies are gray with two distinct stripes on their face, large red eyes, and spongy mouthparts. An adult house fly varies in size from ⅛ to a ¼ inch, whereas larvae or maggots range from ¼ to ⅜ of an inch. Maggots are cream colored and look like fat, short worms with one tapered end.
Regardless of shape or form, house flies are vile creatures that feed and breed in rotten food and garbage. They thrive in unsanitary conditions, and are carriers of disease. They are known carriers of salmonella, E.coli, and food poisoning.
If given the chance to settle and reproduce, house flies can be a nightmare to get rid of.
What’s That Fly: The Fruit Fly
If you’ve ever left fruit out on the counter, you’ve likely encountered an alarmingly large swarm of fruit flies circling around in your kitchen. Fruit flies are tiny and beige with black rings. Their eyes are bright red and about ⅛ inch plus or minus depending on the type.
Though these pests are tiny, they are rapid breeders––mating and laying hundreds of eggs within 8 to 10 days. Their larvae are small, whitish-yellow, and have a pointed head. You can find fruit flies circling fruit bowls, wine glasses, garbage cans, and dirty mops. The adults will hang out around windows and door frames, as well as on the walls in the kitchen. When fruit flies are located outside, they tend to be attracted to garbage, dumpsters, composts, and decaying fruits and vegetables.
Similar to the common house fly, fruit flies carry germs and contribute to many diarrhea-causing illnesses. They often get into homes through almost microscopic cracks and crevices, and are incredibly hard to eradicate.
Shoo Fly, Don’t Bother Me!
Regardless of what kind of flies are buzzing around your head, you probably just want them gone, period! At Vulcan Pest Control, we know the importance of keeping a pest-free home, and will do whatever it takes to make sure your home is pest-free and stays that way all year round.
For pest control treatment, call Vulcan Termite & Pest Control today.