Soft sunlight pouring through the windows, the smell of freshly cut grass... and a fly buzzing right next to your ear, attacking you as soon as you lose your vigilance - a picture far from a summer idyll, isn’t it? It would seem that he shrugged it off and forgot. But it's not that simple.
Flies have a very short memory (less than 3 seconds!) - this is the reason that no matter how much you chase it around the house with a fly swatter, it will not learn a lesson from it. More precisely, he will extract it, but will immediately throw it out of his head. In addition, this insect reacts to movement 6 times faster than a human. While we sneak up on her with extreme caution, swing our arms and hit her with the speed of a superhero with a fly swatter (towel, rolled up newspaper...), she examines our movements as if in a slow motion movie. Well, at least flies can’t laugh...
When a person is not the owner of the house, but a tasty morsel
Flies are extremely annoying, but not because the purpose of their life is to drive a person to white heat. We can safely call them acrobat insects: they perform many tricks in the air, are able to spin in place and move backwards. This activity requires a lot of energy. It is not surprising that flies spend most of their lives searching for food.
Flies constantly land on humans because they feed on microelements from his sweat and sebum.
For them, human skin is like a self-assembled tablecloth; fat and exfoliated particles of the epidermis can be found on it. And human sweat is simply a storehouse of useful microelements for these insects! It contains various salts (calcium, phosphorus, potassium), sulfuric acid compounds, and products of protein metabolism. In a word, for them we are a walking pharmacy and a canteen rolled into one, and even free of charge.
In ancient times, the wingspan of flies reached one meter. Can you imagine such a giant chasing you from room to room? We can only be glad that we live here and now. Or is it too early to rejoice?
Random
The diseases are caused by flies that usually lay eggs in rotting organic matter. A person becomes infected with these larvae accidentally by ingesting them in food or wearing underwear. For the most part, eggs swallowed by a person are dissolved by gastric juice, but sometimes maggots can penetrate the intestines, causing intestinal myiasis. If a fly lays eggs on wet laundry, the larva can penetrate the urethra, causing genitourinary myiasis.
Occasional cavitary myiases are caused by many flies:
- blue meat (Calliphora vicina);
- indoor (Musca domestica);
- green meat (Lucilla sericata);
- brownie (Muscina stabulans);
- small indoor (Fannia canicularis);
- fruit flies (family Drosophilidae);
- cheese (Piophila casei).
These are not the only, but the main types of flies that infect humans.
Interesting!
A person usually causes intestinal myiasis with cheese fly larvae by eating a dubious delicacy: rotten cheese infected with cheese flies.
Accidental myiasis
Get infected from flies? Easily!
While we look with annoyance at yet another fly diving at us, scientists are not wasting their time. According to research by the World Health Organization, 20% of people on Earth become infected with dangerous diseases from insects. Do you want to know which of them surpassed all the others in terms of the number of infections they suffered? Flies! Here are some harmless crumbs for you...
It is a reliable fact that flies have more than once become sources of serious epidemics:
- in the 19th century in Russia, these insects caused 112 epidemics of infectious jaundice;
- in 1898 in Cuba and Puerto Rico during the Spanish-American War they were the source of epidemics of typhoid and dysentery;
- About 8 million people suffer from trachoma (leading to blindness) every year, and the disease is transmitted by certain types of flies.
Flies carry up to 60 dangerous bacteria. And if everyone understands how the infection is transmitted from person to person, then how can flies harm us? Elementary - through contact with our skin. The fly can safely be called dirty: dust and dirt from the garbage and sewage in which it looks for food constantly sticks to the hairs covering its body and paw pads. And along with dust and dirt - bacteria.
Flies leave their marks on everything they touch - furniture, clothing, food. And many dung flies also bite. Among the most dangerous infectious and parasitic diseases that these pests can infect humans are the following:
- dysentery;
- typhoid fever;
- cholera;
- tularimia;
- paratyphoid;
- anthrax;
- tuberculous enteritis;
- polio;
- helminthic infestations.
The fly feeds on our food and leaves feces and eggs on it.
In most cases, the consequences of contracting an intestinal infection are disruption of the gastrointestinal tract and liver, and this is guaranteed diarrhea or constipation, and sometimes a severe increase in temperature. If the disease is not treated, it can lead to an enlargement of the liver and the appearance of bleeding cracks and small ulcers on the walls of the stomach.
The consequences of helminthic infestation are the appearance of depression and irritability, headaches and pain in the stomach or abdomen, increased fatigue, diarrhea or constipation, allergic reactions, weight loss and a number of other unpleasant symptoms.
Scientific discoveries and technical discoveries
While studying the body structure of flies, scientists became interested in some of their interesting features, which they were able to use in the design of technical devices:
- The unique structure of the fly's eyes, consisting of thousands of 6-sided miniature lenses, in which the image is obtained by summing it in several projections, contributed to the creation of a new camera that can immediately take 1300 pictures of an object (its lens consists of 1327 minilenses), this invention is used in modern computers that perform high-precision calculations;
- the structure of fly eyes is also used to create lattice solar panels that can generate large amounts of electricity;
- aviation engineers, based on the structure of fly wings and halteres, which allow them to become “masters of aerobatics” among all flying insects and birds, were able to create instruments for controlling flights in aircraft, as well as measuring the speed of rockets and airliners;
- By studying the hearing capabilities of flies and the structure of their eardrums, biologists came to the conclusion that the insect is able to determine the source of sound with high accuracy - this will help in improving and developing new designs for hearing aids and microphones;
- research by geneticists of one of the species of vinegar flies helped decipher its gene code and establish a greater degree of identity with the human one, which is planned to be used in the creation of drugs for kidney diseases and leukemia;
- Scientists' plans for the future are to use the physiological characteristics of flies to detect drugs and explosives.
Thus, the participation of mosquitoes and flies in the natural ecosystem brings more benefit than harm. And those who are afraid of being harmed by them can be advised to strictly observe the rules of hygiene in residential premises: regularly clean, throw out garbage on time, destroy incoming pests using available modern methods. This will help reduce the likelihood of harm from any flying insects.
How to prevent flies from appearing in the house
You can use traditional methods and repel insects with the help of odors: place cloves, mint branches, lemon cut into slices around the house, and regularly wipe the trash can with vinegar. But all this, of course, provided that you yourself are not irritated by these aromas.
Remembering that flies scurry around the house mainly in search of food, it is better to take preventive measures:
- maintain cleanliness and order;
- take out the trash can on time;
- thoroughly wipe the kitchen counter and sink to prevent the accumulation of crumbs and food debris;
- store food in airtight containers;
- Ventilate the room regularly.
Remember that flies lay eggs in our food, and you don’t want to “feast” on their larvae or feces? Following the above rules will protect you from this, as well as from contracting intestinal infections and worms.
About the benefits
In an apartment or private house, flies are unwanted guests. Even if these are harmless house flies, it is unknown why, spinning in the space under the chandelier, landing on tasty foods, they irritate the homeowner with the mere fact of their presence. Some of them are harmless and even beneficial, but others can infect you with a dangerous disease. In total, there are about 75 thousand species that can be used to benefit:
- Hoverfly larvae clean plants of aphids;
- Larvae of certain varieties are used to treat gangrene.
All of them are an integral element of the existing biosphere. While some people would be happy to eradicate all the world's flies, their absence would cause serious disruption to food chains and lead to ecosystem failure. Their larvae and adult flies themselves serve as food for various animals; the buzzing insects help plants pollinate, speed up decomposition, and even eat bugs and caterpillars.
Getting rid of flies using insect repellent
With the help of insect control products, you can not only get rid of annoying flies, but also scare them away from your home or summer cottage.
Flies stick to glue trap
A proven remedy against flies is adhesive tapes and plates. They must be hung from the ceiling, in the doorway or near the window. The insects stick securely to the glue trap and die. The Valbrenta product range includes Kleelov adhesive fly tape and Kleelov “Fruit” adhesive plate. The products have confirmed their high effectiveness.
Ultimately, to avoid the appearance of these annoying and potentially dangerous insects in your home, it is enough to install mosquito nets on the vents or windows. With just a little effort, your family will be provided with comfortable time and fresh air at any time of the day.
Facultative myiases
This group of diseases is caused by flies that normally breed on animal corpses. They cannot lay eggs in a person in the literal sense of the word. Insects lay eggs either in open wounds or on intact skin, ears or nose.
On a note!
Flies do not have an ovipositor that can pierce the skin. Therefore, all photos of a fly laying larvae under the skin are Photoshopped.
The hatched larva itself penetrates the epidermis and develops there for 2-3 weeks. The fully developed maggots leave the body and fall to the ground. There they pupate and after a while adults emerge from the pupae.
Depending on the place where the clutch was made, the larvae penetrate not only under the skin, but also into the eyes, nasal cavities and skull. In this case, the expression “brain eaten” ceases to be figurative. Maggots that have penetrated the cranial cavity feed on brain tissue.
Facultative myiases
If fly larvae get into the eye, they can only be removed surgically. The easiest variant of ophthalmomyasis is the penetration of maggots into the conjunctiva. If it penetrates the eyeball, the disease can result in loss of the organ of vision.
On a note!
In the United States, there have been cases of gray blowfly maggots penetrating deep into the internal tissues of the body.
Removing fly larvae from under the skin, nose and eyes is only possible through surgery.
What flies carry
Diseases and bacteria carried by common house flies:
- cholera;
- typhoid fever;
- tuberculosis;
- listeriosis;
- shigellosis or dysentery;
- salmonella infections;
- viral hepatitis A (Botkin's disease).
Flies can also cause simple foodborne illness in humans. They are capable of carrying streptococci and staphylococci, E. coli. But the number of these bacteria must be high for infection to occur.
ATTENTION! Flies do not tolerate ARVI and other seasonal viral diseases. Viral particles are small for the feet of flies. The exception is viral hepatitis A.
The harmfulness of the parasite
In temperate regions, the Wohlfarth fly is a seasonal pest. The peak of its activity occurs in the summer months, and in the cold season it disappears. The main objects of parasitism are sheep and goats. After cutting the animals' fur, scratches and cuts remain on their bodies, which are used by pests to enter the body. Other livestock get sick less often, but cases of wolfartiasis occur in cows, horses, and camels. Females lay larvae not only in wounds, but also on the mucous membranes of the nose, mouth, ears, eyes, and genitals.
Fly larvae, developing in the host's body, cause myiasis. Having penetrated the wound, they, with the help of secreted enzymes, decompose the tissue to the bones. For the first 4-5 days they feed on the surface, then they go deep into the body and become invisible during external inspection. Mechanical eating of flesh causes severe pain, necrosis and gangrenous processes appear. Infected cattle noticeably lose weight, and swelling forms at the site of parasite penetration. Without treatment, death is inevitable.
The Wohlfarth fly threatens the health of not only animals, but also people. They attack patients with purulent wounds and infants sleeping in the open air. Females lay larvae in human natural openings, where they develop on mucous membranes. Parasites affect the gums, eyes, maxillary cavity, and ears. The patient experiences severe pain, inflammation, discharge of pus and blood. It is especially dangerous to make passages in the tissues before the larva emerges.
Attention. The consequences of the penetration of larvae into the mucous membranes of the ears and eyes are blindness and deafness.
