The house fly, Musca domestica L. (Diptera: Muscidae), is a global pest of humans and animals that carries scores of pathogens and costs up to $1 billion per year in the United States alone. Information is reviewed on recognition, distribution, biology, dispersal, and associations with microbes. Particular challenges of managing flies in different animal systems are discussed for swine, poultry, dairy cattle, beef feedlot, and equine operations. Effective fly management requires diligent monitoring and integration of cultural control, especially manure management, with mechanical control, traps, conservation or augmentative biological control, and judicious use of insecticides. House fly is notorious for developing insecticide resistance and its resistance status is summarized as of August 2020. Several critical research needs are identified. Monitoring systems and nuisance/action thresholds need improvement. Faster-killing strains and better formulations are needed to integrate pathogens into Integrated Pest management (IPM) programs. The use of parasitoids remains an inexact science with many questions remaining about species selection and release rates. New attractants are needed for use in traps and attract-and-infect/kill strategies. Screening of new active ingredients for toxicity should continue, including a rigorous assessment of essential oils and other botanicals. Rising global temperatures may affect the balance of the fly with natural enemies. An understanding of the fly microbiome may reveal unknown vulnerabilities, and much remains to be learned about how flies acquire, retain, and transmit human and animal pathogens. System-specific research is also needed to tailor fly IPM programs to individual animal systems, especially in organic and free-range animal production.
Pest management plans for house flies, Musca domestica L. (Diptera: Muscidae), often include insecticides. Because of resistance and environmental concerns with traditional insecticides, safe new pesticides and pesticide formulations are needed. The insecticidal potential of two sugar alcohols, xylitol and erythritol, against adult house flies was assessed. Flies consumed both xylitol and erythritol. The proportion of flies that exhibited the proboscis extension reflex, which is associated with feeding, did not differ significantly between the sugar alcohols and sucrose in an experiment with 20% solutions and older flies, but was less for the sugar alcohols in an experiment with 2M solutions and younger flies. When presented alone or mixed with sucrose, both sugar alcohols significantly decreased fly survival relative to just sucrose. There was a strong negative relationship with concentration and mean days survived for xylitol, but no significant relationship for erythritol or sucrose. Relative to sucrose alone, a temporary exposure to xylitol, but not to erythritol, decreased survival when sucrose was subsequently available. Although xylitol and erythritol can both decrease survival of house flies and would meet the criteria for organic farming, deaths were often not very immediate. However, continued investigation of a variety of sweeteners as feeding-stimulant alternatives to sucrose is still useful, to minimize the risk of house flies evolving resistance to the sugar in baits. Our analysis of already published data on house flies that had been repeatedly exposed to a sucrose-based bait is consistent with the evolution of sucrose-feeding avoidance.
The house fly, Musca domestica (L.) (Diptera: Muscidae), and the stable fly, Stomoxys calcitrans (L.) (Diptera: Muscidae), are two filth flies responsible for significant economic losses in animal production. Although some chemical control products target adults of both species, differences in mouthpart morphology and behavior necessitates distinct modalities for each. For these reasons, larvicides are an attractive means of chemical control. We assessed the potential of the polyol sweeteners erythritol and xylitol as larvicides to the house fly and stable fly. LC50 values of erythritol against 2nd instar larvae were 34.94 mg/g media (house fly) and 22.10 mg/g media (stable fly). For xylitol, LC50 values were 74.91 mg/g media (house fly) and 41.58 mg/g media (stable fly). When given a choice, neither species showed a preference for ovipositing in media treated with either sweetener at various concentrations or in media without sweetener. Significantly lower development from egg to adult was observed when the 2nd instar LC50 equivalent of each sweetener was present in the media compared to controls. Erythritol and xylitol both have larvicidal qualities, however their effective concentrations would necessitate creative product formulation and deployment methods to control all stages of developing flies.
Various insecticides for the control of the house fly Musca domestica L. were tested for compatibility with a biological control agent, the pupal parasitoid Spalangia endius Walker. Bioassays used the mode in which each organism was expected to be harmed by the insecticides, a surface contact bioassay for S. endius and a feeding bioassay for M. domestica. A Pesticide Compatibility Index (PCI) was created that allows comparison of LC50 values when the mode of exposure to a pesticide differs. First LC50 values were converted into units of prescribed dosages (LPR = LC50-to-prescribed dosage ratio). This study used dosages from labels of granular baits. PCI is the ratio of LPRbiological control agent to LPRpest. For these PCI values, order of compatibility with S. endius was spinosad > thiamethoxam > dinotefuran > methomyl > imidacloprid. That spinosad was better than imidacloprid or methomyl, both for parasitoid survival and for killing flies, is consistent with conclusions from the LC50 values. Permethrin and nitenpyram were also tested, but their PCIs were not calculated. Permethrin is prescribed as a contact insecticide against flies rather than being consumed as a bait, and nitenpyram has not been formulated as a fly insecticide. Compared to the other insecticides in terms of LC50 values, permethrin was moderately toxic to S. endius but one of the most toxic for M. domestica; whereas nitenpyram was least toxic for both S. endius and the flies.
Use of insecticidal baits risks the evolution of resistance to the feeding stimulant in the bait, not just to the active ingredient (toxicant). Sucrose-based baits are widely used against house flies, Musca domestica L. The baits are applied as dry granules, but readily liquefy. The proboscis extension reflex (PER) and consumption of alternative sweeteners, dry or in solution, were examined. Fructose, glucose, and xylitol merit further study as alternatives to sucrose. Dry, fructose, glucose, and xylitol elicited PER much more than sucrose, although not when in solution. Furthermore, dry or in solution, females and males ate as much or more fructose as sucrose. In solution, flies ate as much glucose as sucrose; although when dry, consumption was much less for glucose than sucrose. Dry, xylitol elicited as much consumption as sucrose for females, though less for males. In solution, for both sexes, xylitol elicited less consumption than sucrose did. Acesulfame potassium, sodium cyclamate, and sucralose do not look promising as they did not often elicit PER, whether dry or in solution. Erythritol also does not look promising. Erythritol elicited PER no more than sucrose did when dry and elicited PER much less than sucrose when in solution. Flies ate much less erythritol than sucrose whether dry or in solution.
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