Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Musca domestica!


Ahhhhh summertime in the South. I love the weather in the South even down to the unbearable heat but there are two things associated with this heat that drive me nuts!! Fleas and Flies! Fleas because I have dogs and it's a constant financial battle to keep them free of fleas but FLIES!! My youngest and his friends can't seem to understand "SHUT THE DOOR" when going in and out of the house. Wintertime no problem but when the heat comes the flies come with it. He, being Andy my youngest, left the door open yesterday for a minute until he couldn't stand my screams of horror any longer and when I walked into the living room I saw about six flies on the window! Mice I can handle....snakes I can handle, roaches...no way....fleas aren't on me just my Ellie, the love bugs all huddled in my car having wild sex as they fly around, I can handle but Flies? No no no no no! Unprepared as I always am (no fly swatter) I began to spray the window down with Clorox Cleanup! It worked but I was defeated as I walked into my bedroom to find two more on my bedroom window!

Facts about flies :
Flies have over 4,000 facets for sight in each eye. ( WOW)
Flies are attracted by movement more than color.
Flies have a smelling distance of over 750 yards.
A fly's feeding range is usually limited to two miles.
A single garbage can, if not emptied, can be the breeding ground for 30,000 flies.
During warm weather, a fly can produce a family generation in less than two weeks.

House Fly -
~The housefly, Musca domestica, is one of the most common of all insects.It is a worldwide pest in homes, barns, poultry houses, food-processing plants, recreation areas, etc.
~House fly eggs are laid in almost any type of warm organic material.Animal or poultry manure is an excellent breeding medium. Decaying vegetation such as grass clippings and garbage can also provide for optimum breeding conditions.

~Houseflies are strong fliers and can become widely distributed by flying, wind currents, vehicles and animals. Generally, though, flies are abundant in the immediate vicinity of their breeding site.

THE BEST WAY to get rid of flies is simple and fun
.
Open a fruity alcoholic beverage like Smirnoff or mikes hard lemonade, drink half of it, and let the other half sit outside. Flies will find it irresistible as they die by the dozen. Last summer it filled to the top with dead flies.

OR :

Take an orange and "juice it" (just take out the middle) and fill it with salt. Place this
anywhere in your home that you want to get rid of flies. They disappear!
The oranges last for a couple of months, then you just get new ones.


EWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!! EWWWW! -begins to swat the air around her-


1 comment:

swampmother said...

cute, a real work of southern literature. We love to get cozy with our bugs.