Residual Pesticides for House Flies
House flies are surely a nuisance, and there are many compelling reasons for a homeowner to want to remove an indoor house fly infestation when she discovers one. Flies can contaminate food, transmit diseases to humans and present many other health and sanitation hazards. There are many different approaches to controlling house flies indoors, many of which rely on using different kinds of pesticides to completely remove the infestation. Does this Spark an idea?
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House Flies
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House flies generally are only drawn indoors when they are attracted by an abundant food source or moisture supply. Smelly trash, food left out uncovered, animal or human feces and dead and rotting organic matter can all draw flies indoors. If an infestation is serious enough to warrant the use of a chemical pesticide, it is important to understand the differences between the types of pesticide chemicals for house fly control.
Residual Pesticides
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Chemical pesticides differ from one another in the mode used to attack the insect pest and remove the infestation. Residual pesticides, as their name implies, go on areas that insects are suspected of frequenting, as opposed to contact or non-residual insecticides that go directly on observed insects.
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Recommendations
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In general, residual pesticides only get a recommendation for outdoor use in the case of house fly management. Applying a residual pesticide to areas such as walls, overhangs and any other outdoor areas that flies may use as a resting area can persist long enough to kill the flies once they return to those areas. Only professional exterminators can typically apply residual pesticides.
Other Measures
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According to the University of California's guide to managing house flies, "pesticides are not needed or recommended " for most home house fly infestations; "[s]elective use of insecticides against house flies is one component of a total fly management program, but should only be used after all possible nonchemical strategies have been employed." Since non-chemical measures such as sanitation and exclusion usually suffice to remove a fly infestation, use a residual or other type of pesticide only when all non-chemical control options have been exhausted.
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