Flies live near and benefit from humans and their dwellings. Flies can be extremely pesky and relentless. They carry disease-causing organisms from excrement and filth to food, drinking water or directly to the human body. Flies can spread diseases like typhoid, cholera, dysentery, diarrhoea and trachoma. 

The common species of flies in Singapore:

• House Fly
• Blue Bottle Fly
• Flesh Fly

Fly Treatment

While the use of pesticides is usually not the best means of managing fly problems, sometimes-chemical control can be a valuable component of an integrated fly management program. An important step in fly management is to exclude them from the premises. This is done by keeping doors, windows and vents closed as much is practical, and by screening and sealing around these and other fly entry points. Automatic door closing devices and air curtains that blow air away from doorways can also be installed to supplement an integrated fly management program.

The key to managing all filth flies is sanitation. Eliminating fly breeding sites, i.e., the material to which they are attracted to and on which they lay eggs, is usually sufficient to eliminate and prevent fly infestations. Conversely, without thorough sanitation, other control methods are largely ineffective. Therefore, rubbish should be kept in sealed containers (in trash bags and/or bins with tight-fitting lids). Bin centres should be kept as clean as possible, emptied regularly and kept as far away from buildings as is practical.  

Just as sanitation is the key to successful filth fly management, inspection is the key to sanitation. To eliminate fly breeding sites, we must first locate the attracting material. Often this can only be accomplished by conducting a thorough inspection of the premises, and by knowing what to look for and where to look. First, identify the flies involved, inspect for material that attracts that species and then eliminate the material.

Where chemical control is required as a supplement to the above measures, several options can be weighed in accordance to the extent of the infestation including: baiting, residual spraying, Ultra Low Volume (ULV) misting and fogging. It is not a permanent measure but the use of insecticides is a quick way to reduce the adult fly population.

Flying Insect Light Traps (FILTs)

The term flying insects can encompass almost all insects in some stage of their life cycle. However, in the context of the food industry, the main concern would be the various species of flies.

FILTs are designed to attract flies by the UV light attractant. FILTs are ideal for use in all food processing, food preparation and food storage areas.

The UV attractant shatter proof tubes are replaced annually and the glue board design FILT holds all trapped insects and makes identification of species and numbers of trapped insects relatively reliable.