What does a fly do when they sit on your food?
This is why flies are the most disliked insects...
As much as flies play an integral role in the ecosystem, not all types contribute positively. Many of them pose health hazards and are pests.
If you ask us, flies are the worst kind of pests. They contribute to illness and are bothersome when eating or cooking. House flies breed in dirt, garbage, and faecal matter and sit on surfaces around your home and food.
Their distant cousins, fruit flies, aren't any better; they appear out of nowhere and have a way of being just as annoying.
"Like most people, when a fly lands in your food, your first instinct is probably to swat it away and then keep eating. However, houseflies can carry at least 100 pathogens such as viruses, bacteria, and parasite eggs." (Sigma Pest)
Sadly, that's not the worst part of a fly landing in your food...
The Sigma Pests website says: "When a fly lands in your food, it isn’t eating off your plate; it is vomiting digestive liquids onto the food to break it down. Doing this allows them to lap up your food as a liquid meal.
"The worst part is that this vomit contains germs from the fly’s last meal. These pathogens inside the fly’s stomach survive longer than the bacteria that stick to their body, thus leaving a bigger chance of disease when a fly lands in your food. These pathogens mix with the fly’s vomit and will stay in the fly’s mouth until the next time it eats causing a greater chance of disease."
Now with that in mind, watch this woman's video of a fly that had sat on her plate of food. Video courtesy of Instagram.
As much as there is no sure-fire way of removing flies from entering your home, there are some thing you can do to prevent them from visiting you:
- Make sure you clean your space regularly, sanitise surfaces or spills, and dispose of waste properly.
- Avoid leaving pools of water around, and keep your yard clean.
- Growing plants such as Marigold, Rosemary, Basil, Lavender, Sage, Mint and Citronella around your home repel flies naturally.
- Window and door screens help prevent flies from entering your home.
Follow us on social media:
HOW TO LISTEN TO EAST COAST RADIO
- Listen to East Coast Radio on the FM (frequency modulation) spectrum between 94 and 95 FM on your radio.
- Listen live to ECR by clicking here or download the ECR App (iOS/Android).
- Listen to East Coast Radio on the DStv audio bouquet, channel 836.
- Switch to the audio bouquet on your Openview decoder and browse to channel 606
- Listen to us on Amazon Alexa.
Image Courtesy of Pexels