How to kill a fly

What is the power of a fly?

The fly is the best flyer among insects. Musca domestica (house fly) has a powerful “motor” hidden in its chest, which allows it to take off from a standing position. Wings that beat 200-300 times per second provide the insect with maneuverable, fast flight and an annoying buzzing sound.

Thanks to all the above advantages, the fly turns into a fighter jet. However, if you reduce a real plane to the size of an insect, then it will not have the slightest chance of defeating an annoying fly in a dogfight. So chasing an insect with a rolled up magazine, towel, or newspaper is like trying to shoot down a fighter jet with a medieval catapult. To kill a fly, you need to act thoughtfully, according to a carefully developed plan.

Besides:

The size and body structure of this pest provide the house fly with rare vitality. You can often observe how, a second after you swatted it with your hand, the fly, as if nothing had happened, flies away unharmed. Mystic? - Not at all.
The complex compound eyes of the insect consist of hexagonal ocelli - ommatidia, which have their own lenses and receptors. As a result, each eye detects objects appearing and disappearing in the field of view. Flies notice the slightest movement. Therefore, when it seems to you that you are acting like a super-fast “superman”, for a fly you remain a barely crawling “snail”.
A fly recognizes odors much better than we do, so it immediately smells spoiled food. Following the smell, the insect flies along an incomprehensible, bizarre trajectory that confuses us, and this prevents us from killing the fly on the fly.

Diseases carried by flies

These insects pose a danger to the functioning of the human body. They feed not only on ordinary food, but also on rotten waste, as well as excrement, and then, flying into a residential building, they carry on their paws and deposit on the food harmful substances that are dangerous to human life. The main diseases that can be contracted from flies are typhoid fever, hepatitis, cholera, worms, as well as a huge variety of other infections. In the south you can find some species of flies that feed on human blood; when they bite, a person can become infected with anthrax. This happens after the insect has previously bitten a sick animal.

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What is the fly's weakness?

Flies are incapable of learning and gaining practical experience of their defeats. Therefore, they can spend hours fighting against a closed window until they die, instead of finding an open space and flying out. This can be used very profitably to finally deal with the villains.

Insects are attracted to anything edible, including our food, rotting remains and excrement. Females look for suitable places to lay eggs, and for this they again select food and excrement. Of course, leaving a trash can open to kill a fly is far from the most pleasant experience, but all means are good in the fight against an annoying pest. The main thing is to strictly adhere to the goal.

Flies fly into the light: during the day into windows, and at night into lamps and fire. Therefore, by strategically manipulating the switch, you can lure the enemy into a trap.

Cleaning fly breeding sites

These flying insects enter a person’s home in search of food and favorable conditions for reproduction. Flies are attracted by the smell of food, rotting, spoiling food. On these products, the females will lay eggs, and the emerging larvae will fully develop.

Therefore, when starting the fight against annoying insects, you must initially eliminate all possible places of their reproduction.

Wet cleaning

To do this you need:

do wet cleaning in the house;
wash dirty dishes;
take out the trash can and rinse it;
limit access to products, hide them in the refrigerator;
Clean pet cages and feeders.

All these actions will help reduce the number of flies in the house, but to get rid of them completely you need to take more radical measures.

How to kill a fly - general rules

Based on the listed features of the insect and relying on the work of Professor Michael Dickenson, who studies the aerodynamics of the flight of flies, we formulate the basic rules for insect hunters:

Don't try to kill a fly in flight, as it can change course in 30 thousandths of a second.
Approach the insect slowly, since it is slow movements that the fly does not notice.
Approach the enemy from behind, as the insect's field of view does not reach 360 degrees.
Choose a fly swatter to match the color of the walls so that it is less noticeable against their background.
Guess the direction of the insect's flight and hit it slightly forward in the direction of movement.

Damage from flies

Flies are considered carriers of viruses and microbes, many of which are dangerous to human health. An insect that flew in from the street and landed on food leaves particles infected with viruses on it. Flies leave their eggs in the pulp and peel of vegetables and fruits, which become dangerous. This can cause various diseases.

The most common diseases include:

Diarrhea.
Dysentery.
Typhus.
Cholera.
Conjunctivitis.

Every disease is difficult for humans to bear, so it is important to know how to kill flies. It is also necessary to take preventive measures to protect against these insects.

Kill a fly - 5 most effective ways

The house fly or Musca domestica gets tired very quickly. Therefore, to defeat the enemy, you can chase him until he is exhausted. Although, it's not solid.

Method number 1. Improved newspaper method

Use the following method:

Sneak up silently. Shadow and sudden movements will scare away the fly, so approach slowly, smoothly, facing the light, with your chosen weapon in your hands.
Attack suddenly and mercilessly. The blow must be delivered at “supersonic” speed so that the shock wave crushes the body of the fly, even if it is not located on a hard surface. The most merciless and destructive weapon is a wet towel. Like a whip, the end of the towel reaches incredible speed and also creates a shock wave that kills the insect in mid-flight.

Here are a few more ways to fight the enemy.

Method number 2. We use any sprayer

To kill a fly this way, almost anything will do:

"Mister Muscle".
Furniture polish.
Air freshener.
Hair fixation spray.
Window cleaner.
Any aerosols from your cosmetics.

Get as close to the annoying enemy as possible with the spray bottle open and spray the fly until it drowns in the toxic sea. Discard the insect and clean the surface behind you so that the product you use does not leave a mark on the wall or anywhere else.

Important! If you use an air freshener as a weapon, you will also give the room a pleasant aroma.

Method No. 3. Using an elastic band

You can use any elastic band: underwear or panty elastic. Proceed as follows:

Pinch one end of the rubber band between your index finger and thumb.
Pull the other end of the elastic with the same fingers of your other hand.
Lure the fly to the location that is easiest for you to target.
Sneak closer and aim from a distance of 30-50 cm.
Pull the elastic band in front of you towards the victim, and with your other hand pull the elastic band towards you.
Release the rubber band from your fingers.
Repeat the hunt if the enemy is not defeated.

Method number 4. With a water gun

Use a water gun or spray bottle for flowers. Get closer to the enemy and wet the fly so that it cannot fly and falls. Kill the fly with any object at hand: a slipper, a book, a keyboard, a foot (not necessarily your own), etc.

Method No. 5. Fly tape

Buy a special fly tape at any store and hang it in the kitchen and other places occupied by flies. But be careful not to fall into this trap yourself. Otherwise, you will have to think about how to remove dead insects from your hair along with the tightly stuck tape. And this is also not an easy question.

Helpful Tips:

A weapon such as a rolled up magazine will throw away the fly without harming it. Perforated fly swatters are much more effective, since part of the air passes through the striking surface, as a result of which the air flow is divided, and it is much more difficult to dodge it.
You can try to suck up the fly with a vacuum cleaner.
Good remedies for flies are essential oils: Cinnamon.
Nutmeg.
Orange.
Carnations.

But in the latter case, you will have to wait a long time until the insects become stupefied and fall into euphoria.

Prevention

Many people do not pay attention to the danger posed by flies. But they are carriers of dangerous diseases. Insects lay eggs in foods, so a person who eats them has a risk of getting sick. Therefore, it is important to carry out prevention using the following recommendations:

It is necessary to carry out wet cleaning regularly, since insects like dirt. It is necessary to throw out garbage in a timely manner, and put fresh vegetables and fruits in the refrigerator.
All windows need to be covered with nets.
You can plant bird cherry or elderberry near the house. Insects do not like the smell of walnut or wormwood. Geraniums should be placed on the windowsills.

Thus, any of these means can be used. It’s even better to take preventive measures to ensure that there are never such pests in your home.

Preventing the appearance of unwanted parasites in the home

To avoid questions about how to kill a fly, you must follow some rules and preventive measures.

Basic precautions:

After dinner, you should not leave leftover food on plates or on the table overnight.
After eating, regardless of the time of day, dishes should be washed immediately and not left in the sink.
In rooms and in the kitchen, sweets and fruits must be covered so that their smell does not attract flies.
If trash accumulates in a trash can, it must be thrown away immediately and the bin must be covered.
Animals should not have food leftovers in their bowls for a long time, this also applies to dry food.
All windows and doors should have special mosquito nets installed that will protect your apartment from annoying insects, so you won’t have any questions about how to kill a fly.

How to get rid of fruit flies in an apartment: traditional methods

The appearance of small food midges is very unpleasant. To exterminate them, it is enough to have only a couple of methods in service.

Smoking

For the procedure you will need an old unnecessary frying pan. Heat the frying pan thoroughly and place crushed hard camphor in it. After 3-5 minutes you will notice a slight smoke from the hot substance. For maximum effect, walk around the apartment with a smoking frying pan. Camphor smoke is non-toxic for humans, but it has a detrimental effect on insects.

Geranium

The plant helps to repel not only house flies, but also small midges. Drosophila cannot tolerate flower scents. To repel and prevent the appearance of midges, it is enough to place one pot with a plant in each room.

Potassium permanganate and matches

The method was developed to combat midges living in the soil. Prepare a solution of potassium permanganate and treat the leaves and stems of the affected flower with it. To destroy larvae in the soil, insert matches into the soil with the sulfur facing down.

Garlic

The smell of garlic is also harmful to midges. Mash the garlic head with a fork and place it in areas where fruit flies congregate. The flies will disappear in a matter of minutes.

Cloves and orange

The product repels insects with a sour-spicy aroma. Stick a couple of cloves into the orange peel and place them in areas where midges appear.

Cold

When midges appear in an apartment during the cold season, it is enough to simply ventilate the apartment. When the air temperature drops, insects die.

Formaldehyde with milk and soda

Mix soda and milk in equal proportions and add a little formaldehyde to the mixture. Pour the solution into containers and place them around the apartment where children or pets cannot reach them.

Vinegar

The pungent smell of vinegar has a detrimental effect on midges. Dilute 2 tbsp. spoons of vinegar in 1 liter of water and scrub all surfaces in the apartment. The method is unproductive, since after 2 hours the smell of the substance disappears and no longer repels insects.

Kerosene

Dilute kerosene in water and wipe with a rag the surfaces that flies come into contact with. After the procedure, ventilate the room. Insects hate the smell not only of kerosene, but also of turpentine. Therefore, if kerosene is not found, a solution of turpentine will give the same effect.

Black pepper

If black pepper gets into the intestinal cavity of an insect, death is inevitable. To ensure that the fly eats the spice, mix black pepper with sugar, place it in plates and place it around the apartment. Pests attracted by the sweet aroma will eat the treat along with the poison.

Sugar substitute (saccharin)

After consuming saccharin, flies die. Take advantage of this fact and prepare a sweet poison. To do this, mix 2 g of saccharin, 20 g of honey and 250 ml of water. Soak newspapers with the resulting mixture and place them on windowsills and other places where flies accumulate. After eating the sweet bait, the flies will die.

Kill light flies in a dream

Light flies are white or of unknown light shades. Killing them in a dream means that gossipers will bite their tongues and stop talking heresy about you. A dream about such insects can warn of attempts to rob you. To remedy the situation, start monitoring your personal belongings more closely. This is especially true in transport, in crowded places and where a person is able to get distracted. By the way, if you dream about dead white flies, try not to walk through parks and squares alone.

If in a vision the sleeper kills light flies, in real life let him be more attentive when concluding any transactions and signing contracts.

Mechanical methods

Despite the fact that it is difficult to kill a fly, the mechanical method is often used and consists of using:

Available materials: rolled up newspaper, slipper, heavy object. The insect is simply flattened by the force of a direct blow.
Fly swatters. A special plastic device is a stick with a flat silicone or rubber plate at the end.
Fly nets. It will not be possible to kill a fly with its help, but such an obstacle will not allow the pest to enter the house. It is better to install the mesh both on windows and ventilation holes.
Adhesive tape. A paper or silicone strip impregnated with a fly-attracting composition is hung on eaves or door (window) openings. Insects land on the sticky surface with their paws and stick. Pests actually die from lack of food and water.

It’s easy to make an analogue of adhesive tape at home. To do this you will need a glass jar, 40 g of castor oil, 1 tbsp. l. honey and 60 g rosin. All ingredients are heated and spread on thick paper or cardboard with a brush. The finished device is placed in a place inaccessible to children and pets.

Folk remedies for fighting flies

There is more than one way to get rid of flying carriers of infections using traditional methods. These methods were also used by our ancestors, because in those ancient times a fumigator against flies and similar means had not yet been invented.

The main ways to get rid of flying carriers of infections:

Many people know that ground black pepper can kill insects. To do this, in a room with flies, you should place a container with sweetened water filled in advance, and then sprinkle pepper on the surface of the liquid.
Take a newspaper and apply honey on it, which will attract insects, and then pour water with saccharin diluted in it onto the honey. It will kill insects in a matter of hours.
How to kill a fly with tomatoes? You just need to start growing these vegetables on your windowsill: the smell from the stems of this plant repels annoying insects.
If you love fresh flowers and are not picky about smells, then buy plants such as mint, lavender, eucalyptus, geranium or lemon balm for your home - they will repel all flying pests.
You can make scented bags to repel flies. Make the covers themselves from several layers of gauze or loose fabric. They must be filled with mixtures of bay leaves, eucalyptus leaves, cloves and clover. Fillers must be changed periodically (about once every 5 days).

Based on the various folk methods of how to kill a fly, everyone will be able to choose for themselves the option that will be most convenient for them.