A Practical Fly Prevention Guide For Jacksonville Homeowners

You’ll be hard-pressed to find a person in Jacksonville who doesn’t find flies annoying. Having flies buzzing around in your home, landing on your food, and bothering your pets can be very frustrating and will have you chasing those flies around, fly swatter in hand, trying to squash them. It’s enough to make you feel crazy, but you’re not alone.

Since flies are one of the most common household pests in the world, it may seem like dealing with flies is an inevitable problem that all homeowners face, but that doesn’t have to be the case. Our experts have dedicated this comprehensive fly prevention guide to helping Jacksonville homeowners get rid of their fly problems for good. Keep reading to learn more about the most common flies in your area and why pest control in Jacksonville is the right choice for you!

Common Types Of Flies That Invade Jacksonville Homes

Florida is home to many different types of flies, but these are the three fly species that you’re likely to find in and around your home:

• House flies: House flies have slightly hairy, oval-shaped bodies that range from ⅛ to ¼ of an inch long. They are typically dark gray and have four distinct black stripes behind their head.
• Fruit flies: Fruit flies are the smallest of the three species, measuring only ⅛ of an inch. These flies are typically brown or tan with bright red eyes.
• Blow flies: The largest of the three fly species, blow flies can grow up to ⅝ of an inch long. These flies look pretty similar to the common housefly, but you can identify them by their unique metallic blue, green, black, or copper coloring.

Why It Can Be Dangerous To Have Flies In Your Home

While flies buzzing around or landing on your sandwich may seem like the worst part about having these pests around, it actually gets much worse. The biggest threat associated with flies is food contamination; these pests carry harmful bacteria and pathogens they spread to your food through contact. Flies are known to spread illnesses like diarrhea, food poisoning, shigellosis, typhoid fever, tuberculosis, dysentery, and parasitic worms.

Six Simple Yet Effective Tips To Keep Flies Out Of Your Home

The best way to get rid of flies is to keep them from getting inside in the first place. While getting rid of flies on your own isn’t easy, here are some helpful fly prevention tips to get you started:

1. Take your trash out regularly, store it in garbage bins with tight-fitting lids until trash day, and clean your trash cans often.
2. Remove outdoor attractants like rotting fruits and vegetables, compost, animal waste, and wet manure or straw from your yard.
3. Keep your kitchen clean by wiping down your counters regularly and cleaning up food and drink spills as they occur.
4. Store food in sealed containers or the refrigerator, and avoid leaving food out overnight. If your home provides them with an easy, reliable food source, this will encourage them to stick around.
5. If you have damaged window or door screens, this could be letting those flies inside. Be sure to replace or repair any screens with holes or rips in them and keep your windows and doors closed as much as possible to keep flies from flying inside.
6. Set apple cider vinegar traps to kill fruit flies or use ultraviolet light traps for larger flies; this can be an effective DIY strategy for catching flies.

Professional Pest Control Is A Great Way To Keep The Flies Away

While there are useful home remedies for flies, these methods won’t get to the root of the problem to stop those flies from coming back. For this reason, no solution is as effective or reliable as professional fly control in Jacksonville.

To schedule a fly control treatment with Lindsey Pest Services or to learn more about our Jacksonville pest control, get in touch with us today and put your fly problems away for good!