In entomological terms a fly is an insect with one pair of wings instead of the normal two pairs and are classified within the order, diptera.  There are thousands of different species of flies but there are only a few that constitute a major concern for us humans.

The common house fly is every where and is a major carrier of a variety of diseases. In fact the fly has probably killed more people than the entire fatal gun shot wounds of all the wars combined.  It is a well known fact that more soldiers involved in the Civil War died of disease spread by flies than during combat.  Imagine thousands of troops marching and bivouacking around the country side with thousands more horses transporting supplies.  That was a lot of manure attracting a lot of disease caring flies.  I was once asked to make a proposal for a lady who had a serious fly problem. The site was a Mobile home of which the back wall served as one quarter of a fence that made up a horse corral that was a sloppy manure filled mess. The first thing I noticed besides the cloud of flies spiraling around was that all the windows were wide open and not a screen was in sight.  When I suggested for starters to install screens to the windows the home owner snapped at me for being a smart @$#. I walked away from that job; there are some problems that will never be fixed.

There is no silver bullet for controlling flies.  As a young child, while visiting my Grandparents farm we were paid one penny for every fly we swatted. That was a pretty effective Integrated Pest Management program even after you factor in that I snuck outside and killed them by the dozens. In some Middle Eastern countries where flies are bad you will notice doors and windows are painted with dull mauve colors.  It turns out flies are attractive to surfaces that reflect the most light, such as the color white, so color choices do make a difference in terms of pest control. A recent research study revealed that painting under your roof eves with a sky blue color seems to attract fewer pests including flies and paper wasps, perhaps by fooling them by disguising the surface as being sky.

Old fashion fly paper still works well as does the multitude of indoor electric light traps available that work 24 hours per day, just be certain your light trap is not visible through a window or you might attract insects from hundreds of yards away to your house.  Passive pheromone traps that use a lure to attract the flies into a one way door work wonderful, again just be certain to install them away from the area your trying to control, and the container may create a nasty smell as it collects hundreds of victims. Sometimes we use what we call attract and kill zones by mixing a residual insecticide with a special sex pheromone and than treat a surface away from the control site, as the flies come around looking for favors that get more than they bargained for. Of course sanitation, exclusion with screens and caulk and elimination of food material is an important part of any successful fly control program. By integrating several fly control methods into a thought out plan you can enjoy a fly free summer.