Here, the flies gain upper hand !

Hindu 13th July 2013

Unhygienic conditions in
poultry farms result in fly
menace
People of several villages
have blamed the owners of
the poultry farms for the
problem
Houseflies breed in the
waste dumped by the
poultry farms
Owners accused of not
taking steps to maintain
cleanliness

News report
The poultry farm owners had been warned.
The villagers have demanded shifting or
closure of the poultry farms.
The villagers also staged an agitation in front
of the deputy commissioners office recently
in support of their demand.

Fly menace in Mangalore returns with

a vengeance
Waste fish stock is
posing a serious health
hazard

Residents seek steps to combat fly

menace!

Mangalore
Davangere
Bangalore
Rural Coimbatur

Fly Menace and their

Control

Prof. R.N.Sreenivas gowda

Ex- Vice Chancellor, KVAFSU,Bidar

About presentation

Introduction
Distribution
Life Cycle
Damage and their Importance
Threshold
Management
Control

Introduction
The House fly is a pest of both farm and
home.
It is a well-known cosmopolitan, always found
in association with human activities.
It is the most common species found in
piggery , Dairy, poultry farms and horse
stables.
Any filth, garbage encourage the activity of fly.

Fly Nuisance

Irritant to farm workers

Cause public health problem
Transmits Enteric diseases.
Farms at outskirts and villages are threatened.
Flies are not just a nuisance; they carry diseases
which pose a serious health hazard to people
and animals. Globally, they cause livestock and
poultry production losses estimated in the
billions of dollars.

Diseases transmitted by House Fly

Most commonly transmitted
diseases by house flies are
Salmonella, Shigella,
Campylobacter, Escherichia,
Enterococcus, Chlamydia, and
many other entero-bacteria
House flies also transmit food
poisoning, typhoid fever,
dysentery, tuberculosis, anthrax,
ophthalmia, and parasitic
worms.

House fly
Common name:
house fly
Scientific name:
Musca domestica
Linnaeus
Insecta: Diptera
Family: Muscidae

Facts about House Fly

The housefly vomits stomach fluid onto its food
and sucks up the dissolved nutrients.
Flyspecks are dried vomit and fecal material.
It has been estimated that in a six-month period,
a pair of houseflies and their descendants would
total 191,000,000,000,000,000,000 if all the
offspring survived.
The House flys eye is an engineering marvel that
gives the fly a nearly 180 degree field view

What do you know about House Fly?

House flies can travel up to
six miles in 24 hours, but
they usually prefer to stay
close by their breeding
ground.
Fly infestations are
often found on
farms because it is hard to
keep them away from
breeding in the readily
available manure.
House flies like to perch on
things like wire or string.

Life cycle
Four distinct stages:
1.Egg,
2.Larva or maggot,
3.Pupa and
4.Adult

Life Cycle-------Eggs
Egg: Depending on the
size of a female fly, can
lay up to 500 eggs in a
three to four day
period.
Eggs are white in
color and are usually
less than half an inch in
size.

Life cycle-----Larvae or Maggots

Larvae: Larvae are commonly
referred to as maggots.
Maggots emerge from the
eggs within eight to 20
hours of being laid.
Larvae begin eating whatever
they can find in the area they
were laid.
They prefer warm, moist
environments to grow in.

Life cycle------PUPA
Pupa: After about four to
10 days, a maggot will
move to higher, drier
ground to move into
the pupa stage of its life.
In about three to six
days, the maggot encases
inself in a reddish-brown
skin where the
final stages of
development take place.

ADULT FLY
Adult: Once the adult house fly
hatches from the pupal stage, it
has an approximate life span of 15
to 30 days.
Females are able to start
producing eggs after two days of
life and will continue to lay
eggs for about a month.
Female house flies are
usually larger than the males.

Biological Behavior of the Fly

Adults usually live 15 to 30 days, but may live
up to two months.
Without food, they survive only about two to
three days.
Longevity is enhanced by availability of
suitable food, especially sugar.
They require food before they copulate, and
copulation is completed in as few as two
minutes or as long as 15 minutes.

 Oviposition commences four to 20

days after copulation.
Female flies need access to suitable
food (protein) to allow them to
produce eggs, and manure alone is
not adequate-------Take care of
spillage of feed.
The potential reproductive capacity
of flies is tremendous.

 As many as 10 to 12 generations may occur

annually in temperate regions, while more
than 20 generations may occur in subtropical
and tropical regions.

 The flies are inactive at night and stay on

ceilings, beams and overhead wires within
buildings, trees, and shrubs around poultry
houses

How to measure the Fly Threshold?

3 X 5-inch white index Spot cards
attached to fly resting surface.
A minimum of five cards should be
placed in each animal facility and left for
seven days.
A count of 100 or more fecal or vomit
spots per card per week indicate a high
level of fly activity and need for control.

Climate & Fly

In the summer, the rate
of fly development in
accumulated manure or
other breeding medium
is often faster than
expected from weather
data.

The greater the

accumulation, the more
the heating, and the
greater the range of
temperatures that
occur, providing fly
larvae with greater
opportunities to find a
suitable habitat for
development.

Control measures
The more commonly used control measures for
house flies are:
Sanitation, hygiene & Biosecurity measures
Use of traps,
Biological control
Spray of Insecticides,
An integrated fly control has to be
implemented.

Effective fly control is integrated fly

control.
Thats the integration of products that tackle
different stages of the fly life cycle with various
cultural and biological techniques which reduce
the amount of chemical treatment needed to
achieve effective fly control in the first place.
Integrated fly control is not only more costeffective, it also helps prevent insect resistance
and the build-up of insecticidal residues in animal
tissues; two increasingly important factors facing
farmers today.

Integrated Fly Management

Programme

REMOVAL OF LITTER, TRAPS

Integrated Fly Management

Programme
CULTURAL
PHYSICAL OR MECHANICAL
BIOLOGICAL
CHEMICAL

1.Cultural Practices
The cultural practice of adding large amounts
of water to the manure creates a habitat
unsuitable for the breeding of house flies.
Preventing feed spoilage and keeping the
feeds dry reduce habitats for fly breeding.
Preventing moisture in potential fly breeding
areas is the critical cultural factor in fly
control.

Cultural control or Sanitation

Good sanitation is the basic step in any fly
management program.
Spilled feed should not be allowed to
accumulate and should be cleaned up two
times a week.
Dont allow or throw broken eggs
Avoid Leakey nipples- formation of water
pools.
Moisture management in litter is critical

Culural:Avoid Moisture in Litter

Use of Foggers or sprinklers during
summer also add to increase moisture .
Heat stress causes wet litter problems of
summer management is critical.
Proper disposal of dead birds is key to
avoid fly problems.
Overall, manure should be dry as far as
possible.

2.Physical or Mechanical control

Control methods involve :
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Collection of eggs and pupae in plastic bags

Incinerating with flame guns,
Use of UV traps, pheromone traps,
Spraying diesel or turpentine or kerosine.
Applying limestone or Zeolite powder on the
litter.

Physical Methods
Removing manure frequently and
thoroughly, or keeping it dry,
reduces the habitat for fly larval
development.
The compactness of manure will
affect the amount of fly breeding

How to avoid Wet Litter?

Construction of poultry
sheds at the elevated
position in order to
have better ventilation
leading to dry litter.
Physical removal of
litter once in three days.
Avoid leakage of nipples
which is extremely
important.

Manure management
Fresh poultry manure is approximately 60 to
80% moisture.
If the moisture level can be reduced to
approximately 30%, flies will no longer find an
ideal site for laying
Another method of making manure
unattractive to flies, is to add water and make
the manure liquid.

Manure management -3 methods

1. The litter must be kept dry and,
therefore, flies are not usually a
problem.
2. In caged layers: weekly cleaning of
the house and litter
3. Storage of manure in a deep
storage area under cages.
An advantage of this system is the
flexibility of clean-out
.

Cleaning in Cages
Frequent flushing
and scraping, and
disposal of the
manure into a
lagoon, is effective
provided lagoon
design and
maintenance is
satisfactory.

Use of scraper
Scraper in a shallow-pit type, caged-layer
poultry house.

Dry & Wet Litter

Place Fly Traps

Fly traps may be useful in
some fly control programs .
Ultraviolet light traps collect
the flies inside an inverted
cone or kill them with an
electrocuting grid.
One trap should be placed
for every 30 feet of wall
inside buildings.
House flies are attracted to
white surfaces and to baits
that give off odors.

Bait Fly Traps

Courtasy:NUTRICON Dr. Vasanth raj

Paint the baits

Courtasy:NUTRICON Dr. Vasanth raj David

3.Biological control
A number of species of hymenopterous parasites
also visit the manure and lay eggs in fly puparia.
These parasites then develop inside the fly
pupae, killing the flies as a result.
Introduction of parasites, beetles and wasps

Macrochele Spp eating larve

Lifecycle of Parasite

Biological Controlcont
Wasp spps
Chalcidoid wasps
(Hymenoptera:
Pteromalidae),
Muscidifurax and
S
phalangia spp
Predatory insects
(especially histerids
[Coleoptera: Histeridae]
and staphylinids
[Coleoptera:
Staphylinidae])

Parasite flies
Parasite, Spalangia sp.,
oviposts in
the puparium of a
house fly.

Biological control..cont
The larva of the black
dump fly,
Hydrotaea (=Ophyra
aenescens), is also
regaining popularity as
a biological control
agent for controlling
house flies on poultry
farms without the use
of pesticides.

CARCINOPS PUMILIO FEEDING

Adult beetle, Carcinops
pumilio, feeding on
house fly eggs.

 Adults of the
macrochelid
mite, Glyptholaspis
confusa, feeding on
house fly eggs

Fly control by Fungi

Some species have a broad spectrum of
activity (e.g. Beauveria bassiana which can
infect many insect species).
Other species of fungi are more selective
(e.g. Metarhiziumanisopliae and
Paecilomyces fumosoroseus, which are
more effective against the fly and the horn
fly).

Fly control by Fungi

Fungal infection of flies occurs primarily through
the cuticle rather than through the digestive
tract.
The fungi penetrate the cuticle and proliferate in
the haemolymph. The fly then dies quite rapidly.
The fungus emerges through the cuticle, forming
a mycelium which contains the next generation of
spores.
These spores are then spread to other flies by
wind, or by direct contact between dead and
living flies.

Funguscont
It takes five to seven days for a flies to die after its
cuticle has been penetrated by fungus.
To be active, the spores need humid conditions.
Therefore, even though many fungi are able to
kill flies, the natural fungal population level is
rarely high enough to have a significant impact on
fly populations.
Fungi form stages resistant to dry conditions, in
order to survive throughout the year.

4. Chemical control
Residual insecticides on adjacent
vegetation an around building
Apply larvicides to manure
Fly bait stations (adulticides)
Paint-on/misting for adult fly
control

Chemicals Used for Fly Control

Thiamethoxam: Paint-on product for the control of
nuisance flies in animal housing.
Thiamethoxam: Ready to use scatter bait for the control
of house flies in farms.
Cyromazine: Insect growth regulator for the control of
fly larvae in poultry manure by feed through application.
Cyromazine: Insect growth regulator for the control of
fly larvae by topical treatment of breeding sites.
Lambda-cyhalothrin):For the control of nuisance flies,
litter beetles, other insects and poultry mites in and
around animal housing.

4.Chemical control
Application of adulticides, or larvicides to
directly or indirectly suppress adult densities.
Residual wall sprays can be applied where the
flies congregate.
Resistance to Permethrin develops more
rapidly in fly populations from farms on a
continuous permethrin regime than in farms
in which permethrin and diclorvos have been
alternated.

Chemical controlcont
Pyriproxifen is a pyridine-based pesticide
which is found to be effective against a variety
of arthropoda.
Pyriproxyfen is a juvenile hormone analog,
preventing larvae from developing into
adulthood and thus rendering them unable to
reproduce.

Chemical controlcont
Pyrethrins [0.1% - 0.6%] + Piperonyl Butoxide [1% 6%]
Ready-to-use oil spray; apply as mist or fog. Spray at a
rate of 1-2 seconds per 1,000 cubic feet. Close windows
and doors for 15 min. or double dosage if area cant be
closed.
Dichlorvos [43.2%] Mix with water as instructed on
label, apply as mist or fog.
Tetrachlorvinphos [50%] walls and ceilings Mix with
water as instructed on label, apply to inside or outside
Permethrin [5.7% to 25%] Check label for specific
application instructions.
Tetrachlorvinphos [23%] and

Chemical control.
Outdoors, the control of flies includes the use
of boric acid in the bottom of dumpsters,
treatment of vertical walls adjacent to
dumpsters and other breeding sites with
microencapsulated or wettable powder
formulation, and the use of fly baits near adult
feeding sources.

Oral Chemical control

Use of Cyromazine-1-2% in feed for 30
days @ 500 gms/ton of feed.
Continuous exposure of flies to this
insecticides has led to development of
insecticide resistance to many
insecticides.

Long term control over Fly Menace

In order to gain long term control, it is desirable
to use cultural and physical methods at initial
stages, followed by biological methods.
However, many farmers tend to use chemical
methods in the beginning, thus aggravating fly
menace.
So, it is desirable to use cultural, physical,
mechanical, biological and chemicals methods of
control according to their order of preference as
shown in the fly management pyramid.

Pool of Wet litter & Larve

Courtasy:NUTRICON Dr. Vasanth raj Daivd

Courtasy:NUTRICON Dr. Vasanth raj Daivd

Apply Silicate absorbent

Courtasy:NUTRICON Dr. Vasanth raj Daivd

Apply Silicate absorbent

Courtasy:NUTRICON Dr. Vasanth raj David

Apply Silicate absorbent

Courtasy:NUTRICON Dr. Vasanth raj Daivd

Apply Silicate absorbent

Courtasy:NUTRICON Dr. Vasanth raj Daivd

Dry Litter

Courtasy:NUTRICON Dr. Vasanth raj Daivd

Dry Litter

Dry Litter

Dry Litter

Courtasy:NUTRICON Dr. Vasanth raj Daivd

Dry Litter

Courtasy:NUTRICON Dr. Vasanth raj Daivd

Clean Farm

Courtasy:NUTRICON Dr. Vasanth raj David

Checklist for Fly control

The following checklist is a tool for you to use in
monitoring fly populations and in routine
maintenance of key fly breeding habitats on your
operation:
1. identify sites where flies are breeding on your
operation,
2. locate the potential source of a nuisance fly
outbreak, or
3. use as a weekly cleanup and maintenance
checklist to ensure the effective control of fly
populations on your operation.

Clean Farm is a
Healthy Farm
Keep the farm
fly free !