Why do flies land on people?

How great it is when the sun is shining outside the window, everything around is blooming and green, and the thermometer rises higher and higher every day. But with warmth comes not only pleasant moments, but also something very annoying and unnerving for almost any person - insects. They fly into houses and cars and land on the body. Mosquitoes, midges, bees, beetles - there are a lot of representatives of the buzzing and so annoying brethren, but among them there are also especially nasty ones. And here, at least once, everyone has asked the question of why flies land on people. Well, it's worth figuring it out!

How to treat a bite?

Now it’s quite reasonable to talk about what to do if you’re bitten by a fly.
First aid measures are somewhat similar to those provided for a wasp sting, but, of course, in a much milder version. So, if you are bitten by a fly, you need to do the following:

wash the wound, preferably with hydrogen peroxide or just a soap solution;
take an antihistamine, for example, suprastin;
To relieve pain, you can apply cold packs with ice to the bitten area;
treat the bite site with iodine;
Monitor your condition and the appearance of the wound for any suspicion of infection.

Thus, if everything goes well and the bite site begins to heal (usually the next day), you don’t have to worry, the inflammation will soon go away on its own. If there is a persistence of the inflammatory process at the site of the bite, or, moreover, a deterioration in health, you should immediately consult a doctor.

Approaching Buddha

Now it has become clear to many why flies like to land. People shouldn't be too concerned about this. Now we can look at this problem from an optimistic point of view and try to find at least something positive. Firstly, insects are part of our wildlife and play a very important role in it. Without them, the planet would simply be mired in the corpses of other insects and animals, as well as in the products of their vital activity. Therefore, it is worth showing a little respect to these creatures for their hard and noble work.

And secondly, annoying buzzing and pestering can be used to your advantage. By trying to come to terms with inconveniences or overcome irritation, a person learns to manage his emotions, control his feelings, be calmer and more peaceful, or, as representatives of some religions say, gets closer to Buddha.

As soon as we get sick, we immediately go to the doctor for a prescription, or to the pharmacy for medicine. But do we even sometimes think about how people are treated where there are no pharmacies or qualified doctors? Which treatment is more effective? The “recipes” described below will probably surprise you, and you may have come across some of them without knowing their benefits.

There have already been a large number of photo collections with insects, where you can look at them in detail, for example, The World of Small Animals and Insects, or Photo Post “The Kingdom of Insects”. Here we will talk about how insects can be used for treatment. So, let's begin…

Green fly larvae

Helps treat wounds and infectious bone diseases. When a green fly lands on an open wound, it, like all flies, lays larvae. But the larvae of this fly are special. These larvae contain a medicinal element known as allantoin. Increasingly, doctors are using allantoin (extracted from fly larvae) to treat osteomyelitis. This type of treatment is very effective.

Larval therapy

Some doctors don't bother extracting allantoin. Instead, they inject the larvae into the affected areas. As the larvae develop and grow, they absorb infectious bacteria, damaged and already dead cells.

Bee venom therapy

Bee venom is rich in enzymes, peptides, glucocorticoids and other medicinal components. Effective in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis. But remember that it is still poison. Abuse of natural medicine leads to dire consequences.

Ant venom for the treatment of arthritis

Ant bites contain poison. Ant venom reduces swelling and eliminates pain.

Green tree ants are used for medicinal purposes by Aboriginal people in Australia.

Australian Aborigines make green ant tea to relieve headaches. This “miracle drink” also promotes wound healing. The cocktail, terrible at first glance, tastes like green tea.

Stray ants. Scar removal

In the jungles of South America and Africa, some natives use stray ants to heal open wounds. After the ant bites the flesh, its body is torn off and the head remains in the wound and speeds up healing. After this procedure, the scars from the former wound are almost invisible.

The cockroach brain as an antibiotic

Cockroach brain contains a powerful antibiotic that will easily eliminate pain and mild infection. But to achieve this result, you need to eat or drink it. Doctors who distribute this medicine usually do not talk about its components.

Treatment of Syphilis with the stings of Malaria mosquitoes

Malaria can kill a person, but syphilis is much more dangerous. This is the reasoning of people who agreed to such a strange treatment. What is the effectiveness? The fact is that malaria “feeds” on syphilis bacteria, without harming the owner of the disease. A doctor only needs to cure a patient of malaria in time when she cures a patient of syphilis.

Treatment of cough with cochineal beetles

Cochineal beetles are one of the ugliest insects on the planet. However, several handfuls of these beetles, in alcoholic form, very effectively treat whooping cough and asthma, as well as mild infections.

Insects as Food Additives

If you don't like broccoli or Brussels sprouts, but you need to quickly replenish copper, iron, thiamine, zinc, riboflavin, you can eat insects that feed on these foods. Fried termite or silkworm larvae are suitable for replenishing iron.

Be healthy, but do not forget that not all insects can be useful, there are even some that can kill - for example, lonomia, the most dangerous caterpillar on Earth

sat on a person

If there is a fly in the house, sooner or later you will find it on you. And this will mean absolutely nothing, since the human body is covered with a thin layer of sebum, sweat and emits an appetizing smell for insects. However, signs ignore this fact, and a completely different explanation is found for the fly’s behavior.

Got tangled in my hair

There is a version that this sign predicts separation for lovers. True, without specifying, forever or temporarily, so there is a way to get rid of a bad omen. Spend the evening apart, and the fly's prediction will come true painlessly for both of you.

Got in the eye

If a fly gets into your eye, you will cry. The sign is 99% true, since our eyes are very sensitive to irritation, and after meeting an insect rushing in low-level flight, tears will probably flow in hail. All the better! This means that you have already cried for yourself and there is no need to be afraid of troubles in the future.

Sat on my nose

Did the flyer land right on your nose? Signs remain silent, but the “Big Dictionary of Russian Sayings” (also folk wisdom!) convicts the owner of the desire to sip a glass or two.

In ear

There are two options for interpreting the sign:

People are gossiping about you. But there is no reason to be upset - if they gossip, it means they are jealous, and since they are jealous, it means there is something to be said.
Someone from the other world sees that you are about to stumble and is trying to let you know about it. Just in case, remember all the offers that you have received recently, and think about each one three times before giving an answer. The habit of weighing everything once again will not let you down, even if the insect did not get close to your ears.

In the mouth

Whoever swallows a fly will vomit. Can not argue with that. True, popular belief explains this by special mercy towards annoying insects of higher powers, and modern medicine explains it by disgust. But the result is the same in any case.
Metaphysically, you are advised to pay closer attention to what comes out of your mouth. Remember how often you say unnecessary things and then regret what you said?

Sometimes a fly is a sign of good luck

The last notes

Horoscope for August 9: how to spend this Friday for Libra and what changes do Taurus need?
Horoscope for August 8: what offers should Scorpio refuse and what problems will Virgo have?
Horoscope for August 7: what will Sagittarius be lucky in and what abilities will be useful to Gemini?
Horoscope for August 6: what chances await Capricorn and what changes does Leo need?
Signs for August 9: we bake pies with cabbage and dream about our betrothed
Signs for August 8: digging potatoes and hiding needles
Horoscope for August 5: an unpredictable day awaits Aries, and Aquarius will need rest
Horoscope for August 4: what ideas will Scorpio have and what difficulties will fall on Cancer?
Curious folk signs on August 17
Signs for August 6: breaking birch branches and collecting bird cherry

Approaching Buddha

What do you do with food that a fly lands on? We all know that these insects spread germs! But it’s summer, barbecue, so don’t you throw away food after such an incident? It's up to you to decide, but experts have found that negligence can actually be dangerous.

Spring has finally arrived - finally and irrevocably. Warm weather is a great way to get out into nature. There is just one danger that for some reason we are too indifferent to. These are flies that land on your food. For most people this is a minor irritation, but in reality there is a HUGE amount of bacteria on the tips of every fly's feet that can pose a major threat to human health.

But now think about the fact that you can eat it too...

Flies are two-winged insects that are widespread throughout the world. Scientists talk about the existence of almost 5 thousand species of these insects, among which there are biting ones. To provide themselves with vital energy, flies eat food that they find everywhere. This is plant juice, rotting fruits, organic matter, manure, feces. Sometimes they attack people and animals in search of food - easily accessible animal protein.

Penetrating into a person’s home, flies become annoying, constantly buzz, land on food and body, and bite. This behavior forces a person to defend himself from annoying neighbors. The following types of pests are known, among which there are biting ones.

Gadflies. Evil ones bite off part of the skin, bring dirt into the wound, and lay eggs. often lead to local inflammation.

Mosquito nets are used to prevent insects from entering the premises.
Additionally, insect traps are placed in opposite places in the room. For example, adhesive tapes are popular.
Chemical protection agents are used in insect breeding areas (dung heaps, livestock buildings).

Another method is the use of insect predators that destroy household pests.

Special aroma

Sometimes the answer to the question: “Why do flies land on people?” — lies not at all in body odor, but rather the opposite. The fact is that some aromas that people apply to their bodies in the form of perfumes, eau de toilettes or deodorants turn out to be incredibly attractive to insects.

Of course, this happens extremely rarely with products from well-known brands, since famous manufacturers take care to prevent such a problem. But with perfumes of unknown brands, produced unknown where, how and by whom, this can easily happen.

Why is it dangerous?

Phases of fly development.

Well, let’s even start with the fact that the bite of a burner is very painful. It is not without reason that this type of fly received such a name. At the moment of the bite, the person feels a fairly strong burning pain.

This is not at all a harmless mosquito bite that appears only some time later, no. The zhigalka acts, let's say, much rougher. A mosquito next to a fly is simply a jeweler in his field.

In addition to, in fact, a painful puncture with the proboscis, the burner fly also introduces saliva that irritates the affected area, which has an inflammatory effect at the site of the bite.

In addition to pain and inflammation at the puncture site, these dipterous pests, like all flies, are malicious carriers of all sorts of dangerous diseases.

One can only imagine how many times this pest used its piercing weapon during the season, and how dangerous the bite of such a carrier of all sorts of nasty things could be for humans.

Among the diseases that a bite from such a bloodsucker can give us, we highlight the following, namely:

typhus;
sepsis;
anthrax;
tuberculosis;
dysentery;
polio;
trypanosomiasis.

And this is not the entire list of “free services” that this pest can provide to us voluntarily and completely free of charge.

Fighting uninvited guests

A large fly buzzing under the ear can not only cause a relative inconvenience, but is also a carrier of a dangerous disease. They can infect both food and introduce infection directly into the human blood. Tuberculosis and cholera are a few of the diseases that flies can infect humans.

The main principle of dealing with them is maintaining cleanliness. After all, as already mentioned, flies perfectly smell food and fly towards it. Empty the trash can regularly, clean up after pets, do not leave food exposed, equip windows with protective nets - these are simple ways that can greatly make a person’s life easier.

After all, despite being ordinary, it is capable of causing us many problems even in its short life. Even if it does not carry the disease, it can be very annoying because it does not have enough insight to understand that it is not welcome here and look for a quieter place. No matter how many times you chase her away, she will come back again and again.

In addition, as she flies around the room, she marks everything with her secretions. Scientists have calculated that one fly can “check in” in at least fifty different places per day. And each of them is a real breeding ground for microbes. So in the fight against flies, the rule that “cleanliness is the key to health” works more than ever.

By the way, not only blowflies, but also small midges that bother you outdoors can also be the causative agent of serious diseases. It causes various conjunctivitis and is the cause of many intestinal diseases.

Why is it dangerous?

Phases of fly development.

This is not at all a harmless mosquito bite that appears only some time later, no. The zhigalka acts, let's say, much rougher. A mosquito next to a fly is simply a jeweler in his field.

In addition to, in fact, a painful puncture with the proboscis, the burner fly also introduces saliva that irritates the affected area, which has an inflammatory effect at the site of the bite.

Flies.

In addition to pain and inflammation at the puncture site, these dipterous pests, like all flies, are malicious carriers of all sorts of dangerous diseases.

One can only imagine how many times this pest used its piercing weapon during the season, and how dangerous the bite of such a carrier of all sorts of nasty things could be for humans.

Among the diseases that a bite from such a bloodsucker can give us, we highlight the following, namely:

typhus;
sepsis;
anthrax;
tuberculosis;
dysentery;
polio;
trypanosomiasis.

And this is not the entire list of “free services” that this pest can provide to us voluntarily and completely free of charge.

Harmless or predators

Many have noticed that with the onset of autumn, flies begin to become “beastly” towards humans, and with the onset of the first cold weather, aggression intensifies several times. It turns out that not all flies are harmless: among them there are real vampires.

The proboscis of the burner is pointed, along its edges there are serrations resembling saw teeth. With the help of these teeth, the fly pierces the upper layer of the epidermis and injects a poisonous liquid into the wound, which slows down blood clotting and sucks up the released blood drops.

The bite of a burner is quite painful. An insect, together with saliva, can carry a very dangerous infection, namely:

trypanosomiasis;
anthrax;
polio;
typhus

Who really bites?

Autumn flies
If we talk about insects living in Russia, then the popular biting flies, of course, include a separate species - the autumn flies. These are bloodsuckers. It was thanks to the lighters that the following message appeared among the people: flies bite - it’s approaching

It is important to remember here that this is not a housefly that suddenly changed its culinary delights and became embittered, but another type of insect. Second name: biter

Outwardly, it looks like a housefly, only a little larger. In addition, there are differences in the structure of the proboscis, and its wings are spaced slightly wider than those of an ordinary housefly. The favorite habitats of biters are countryside, stables, and barns. After all, there is appropriate food for them.

A person suffers from burns most often in August and September. Those who believe that they bite all year round are a little mistaken. It is worth noting that the favorite place to bite these flies is the legs. Having aimed, the zhigalka slightly pierces the skin with its proboscis, injects special saliva into the wound, which prevents blood clotting, and begins to suck on it. Such bites do not go unnoticed - an allergic reaction is not long in coming. It comes on instantly, accompanied by burning and pain.

These are perhaps the largest flies of the order Diptera. Some individuals reach a length of 3 cm. Horseflies are one of the most greedy bloodsuckers. The female is capable of sucking up to 200 milligrams of blood from a person at a time. For comparison: the same amount of blood can be sucked by 70 mosquitoes at the same time.

It is important to note that the bites of these flies are painful and dangerous. The fact is that horseflies carry infectious diseases, including anthrax and polio.

Tsetse fly

The world famous tsetse fly lives in Central Africa. In addition to its painful bites, tsetse carries the pathogens of “sleeping sickness”. If appropriate measures are not taken in time, the bite site will swell, after which the lymph glands will enlarge and death will occur. There is no escape from the last stage of “sleeping sickness”. A person dies from deep exhaustion of the body.

“I'm exploring the world. Insects", P.R. Lyakhov, G.Yu. Lyubarsky, 2001

As soon as the warm season arrives, various insects appear on the street, including the ubiquitous buzzing flies. Throughout the spring and most of the summer, flies behave peacefully, but already in August, on the eve of autumn days, they begin to bite, and quite painfully.

Instructions

Autumn flies bite people in order to stock up on protein for the whole winter, which they need in order to reproduce healthy offspring by spring. It’s curious, but in the “hunger year”, burner flies have to bite not only people, but also animals, and even feed on carrion! Externally, the autumn fly resembles an ordinary housefly with a body length not exceeding 7 mm. This fly is gray in color with dark stripes on the chest and spots on the abdomen. The proboscis of these creatures is strongly extended forward; at their ends there are plates with several chitinous “teeth” - rough elements necessary for feeding.

Autumn firebirds land on the skin of the victim and begin to rub their proboscis against it. This friction allows them to scrape off the top layer of skin (epidermis) and feed on fresh blood. The pain is caused by poisonous saliva released into the wound, which causes a strong burning sensation. Both females and males feed on blood. To be fair, it should be noted that the bulk of flies, of which there are more than 5 thousand species around the world, feed on plant sap, rotting fruits, manure and other animal and human feces. By the way, it is the poisonous saliva that is the main difference between flies and ordinary flies.

In autumn, nettles sting more strongly, and flies become more angry and biting - many people note this in practice. And if everything turns out to be relatively clear with nettles, the plant cells simply begin to become woody after the plant blooms, then what happens to the flies? Many people, especially those who often travel outside the city in the autumn, would like to know the answer to this question.

If in the summer you can find quite a lot of flies, but they, for the most part, do not show aggression towards humans, then by the end of summer - by autumn they begin to bite strongly, and superstitious grandmothers point out that the insects sense the approaching cold weather, which adds to their aggression. However, one should not attribute emotions to them; insects are unlikely to have such intelligence.

Peculiarities of life of biting flies

Flies are dipterous insects distributed throughout the world. Currently, about 5 thousand of their species are known. The bulk feeds on plant sap, decaying fruits and other organic matter, feces, and manure. Only a small proportion of these insects bite. Blood-sucking flies are capable of attacking people and animals. The most common of them are burner flies.

In appearance and biological characteristics, burners are very similar to house flies, which is why they believe that house flies bite. These are gray insects 5-7 mm long. The main difference from non-predatory species of flies is in the structure of the proboscis. Ordinary flies cannot bite a person or animal, since their proboscis is soft and cannot pierce the skin. In stink bugs, the proboscis is elongated and “armed” with rough chitinous plates, with which they cut through the skin of the prey. Both females and males of these insects feed on blood (and therefore bite). Mostly their victims are animals and only sometimes people. Penetrating the skin with their proboscis, burn flies inject poisonous saliva into the wound, so their bite causes severe pain and itching.

During the summer, flies are found in large numbers in places where domestic animals gather - in pastures and farms, where they have all the conditions for feeding and breeding. During her life, one female lays up to 400 dirty-white eggs in manure or rotting plant debris, and sometimes in animal wounds. The larvae emerge from the eggs after 1-5 days, depending on the ambient temperature. The future fly remains in the larval phase for 2-4 weeks, after which a pupa is formed. After another 7-26 days, young flies are born and are capable of laying eggs for about 10-15 days. Thus, the development cycle of a fly from egg to insect emergence lasts from three to eight weeks. During the warm season, several generations of the zhigalka manage to emerge, quickly increasing their numbers. By autumn, the largest number of individuals is reached.

The mechanical method of controlling flies is the simplest and most harmless, but ineffective

The danger of fly bites and methods of combating them

In the fall, with the onset of cold weather at night, these insects often fly into warm houses and apartments, and, having no other sources of food, bite people. That is why most often these insects bite in the fall. The appearance of a burner fly in human housing is especially dangerous if there are infants or elderly and disabled people in the house who are not able to drive away insects and prevent a bite.

Burner flies feed on blood, which means they bite animals and people. At the same time, they are capable of transmitting pathogens of dangerous diseases, such as tularemia, sepsis, trypanosomiasis, anthrax and many others. It is clear that it is better to prevent bites from these insects. Measures to control biting flies are practically no different from methods to control house flies. They can be divided into mechanical, chemical and biological.

Mechanical barriers include various barriers on windows and ventilation in the form of mosquito nets that prevent insects from entering the premises.

To destroy those individuals that managed to get into the apartment, sticky tapes or various types of traps are used.

These methods are effective in controlling adult flies and are aimed at preventing insect bites. These methods are harmless to residents, which is why they are used mainly in residential premises.

Chemical agents, which include various insecticides, help get rid of not only adult insects, but also larvae. These preparations are used to treat farm premises, manure heaps, and animal stalls.
On large farms it is possible to use biological control methods that are completely harmless to humans and animals. For this purpose, insect predators (entomophages) are used, which feed on various types of flies and their larvae. The population of harmful flies will decline rapidly.

Slow claps

The fastest vision is found in species that catch flies in the air. By studying the vision of the pied flycatcher, a small passerine bird that catches flies in flight, scientists from Uppsala University in Sweden found that it was able to detect the flashing of light at a rate of 146 times per second.

Birds were trained to associate a flashing light with a treat, and they successfully discriminated the flashing light at speeds of 146 times/sec. This is about twice as fast as humans can see, but not as fast as the average fly. This means that birds, like flies, perceive each tick of the clock slower than people.

Flycatchers are pressured by evolution to perceive the passage of time as slowly as possible in order to stay ahead of their fast prey. Over the course of evolution, birds that perceive time more slowly can respond more quickly to prey, eat more, raise more chicks, and pass on speed vision to future generations.

Flies that are caught by birds with fast vision will also develop a faster response to avoid being caught. This evolutionary arms race has been going on longer than the birds themselves have existed. Prey flies have been developing fast vision to avoid being caught by predatory flies ever since they learned to fly.

The next time you try and fail to swat a fly, don't get discouraged. Your clumsy and slow movement has met millions of years of natural selection, which has allowed the flies to perceive your attempts in slow motion. In general, for you and for the fly, time seems to pass relatively.

Contaminated with food or drink

They always tried to present the presence of an insect in food as a good omen. Apparently, so that a person who had to share his portion with an insect would be less upset, and the food would not have to be thrown away. Even if the trick looks naive, why not play along with the old belief? Pulling an insect out of a cup is always more enjoyable if you know that for this you are promised some kind of prize!

For tea

A fly fell into a mug of tea - expect a gift. Necessarily material, good wishes and wise advice are not considered a gift.

In coffee

Coffee lovers can count on any gift from a small amount of money to good impressions. An insect drowned in a cup of coffee also portends success.

Into the wine

If a fly lands in a glass of wine or a glass, its owner will experience success with the opposite sex. And if this happens to a woman at a party, then even before it ends the lucky woman will meet the man of her dreams.

In the soup

A fly in the soup is a sign of profit that will be received in the very near future. Moreover, if the “drowned woman” is found floating in a plate, the income should be average, but if it falls straight into the spoon, it should be stunning.

Don't panic

But before you throw all the food off the table

, it is worth knowing that not every fly carries the above microorganisms.

The ones mentioned above are all fecal bacteria and viruses that are not present in every fly's food.

Experts say the fly will have to land on raw meat or feces

to spread these bacteria and viruses into your food. The cleaner your kitchen, the less likely it is that a fly will pick something up before eating.

Moreover, just one fly on your plate does not mean

that you will catch some kind of infection. It all depends on how many harmful microorganisms the fly carries, how long it sits on your food and how strong your immune system is. It is quite possible that you will not become infected with anything at all.

Worry more then

, when you eat in a place where there are a lot of insects, for example, if you are having a picnic in nature. In this case, try to cover your food when you are not eating it.

Why do flies open their biting season in the fall?

There was once an opinion that their aggression in the autumn period was explained by a premonition of their death. However, this is not at all true. Flies do not die in the fall, for the reason that they need to reproduce.

Moreover, not all types of these insects bite.

What flies bite

Only certain species of these insects sting. Today, about 5,000 species of flies are known.

But there are other flies that show autumn aggression, opening the season of biting.

Indoor subspecies - does not bite at all

Housefly

Common flies that fly in apartments are vegetarians. Its oral apparatus has no jaws, much less teeth . In other words, this species does not know how to chew, much less bite - a priori.

The proboscis has a structure that adapts it to the consumption of liquid food: juices of berries and other fruits, waste products. Moreover, the proboscis is so soft that it is not able to pierce the skin of an animal or person.

Burner flies

Closer to autumn, the activity of another type of fly, the buzzer flies, intensifies.

Many people not only confuse them with indoor ones, but also do not know that they are different types.

These are the real bloodsuckers. Their proboscis is equipped with rough chitinous plates. Thanks to this, they pierce the skin during a bite, injecting a poisonous, burning liquid into the wound. That's why the bites hurt.

Why does the aggression of flies increase closer to autumn?

Basically, these flies prefer blood of animal origin.

But breeding up to four generations of offspring during the summer season, zhigalkas multiply catastrophically.

Answering the question: why do flies bite in August, it should be noted that at the end of summer an immense number of them fly.

Livers stock up on protein before cold weather

As September approaches, the autumn cold drives them indoors. Due to the fact that flies need to stock up on protein, which is found in sufficient quantities in the blood of living creatures, flies find ideal conditions for their life activity - warmth and food. They need protein to be able to produce healthy offspring next spring.

Therefore, flies bite even more actively in the fall. Here is the answer to the question: why do flies bite in August and autumn.

What kind of animal is this?

Before looking for the answer to the question of why flies land on humans, it is necessary to understand what kind of creatures they are. They belong to representatives of the order Diptera, which also includes mosquitoes. Speaking of flies, many people imagine almost the same insect, which constantly buzzes in the room or hovering in a swarm over the trash heap.

In fact, representatives of this species are very diverse, live in different parts of the world, and can be both very dangerous to humans and completely harmless. The diet of an ordinary housefly is quite wide: fat, sweat, blood and other secretions of living creatures, nectars and plant juices, the remains of other insects or human food. They eat with the help of an unusually shaped tongue - in the form of a proboscis, through which the fly sucks in its prey.

Who bites?

Let’s not hide the fact that among such seemingly harmless insects as flies in terms of physical impact on surrounding insects, there are many predators. We will not dwell on exotic species like the tsetse fly or the Siberian midge, but will talk about our original, domestic, one might say, species of biting flies, which is the autumn flies

Autumn zhigalka: description.

The autumn fly is an insect from the family of true flies. Externally, the autumn fly is practically no different from any other housefly. It is also small in size, usually reaching a length of no more than 5-8 mm. It has a uniform gray color with a slightly darker chest and a slightly lighter belly, on which you can see dotted black inclusions.

The main distinguishing feature of these insects is their predatory nature. These are the same bloodsuckers as mosquitoes or vampire bats. Their mouthparts have a trunk-like structure, which allows these bloodsuckers to pierce the skin of warm-blooded animals and suck out blood, which serves as food for these predators.

Curious speculations and facts

In addition to scientifically proven facts, there are also various assumptions regarding why flies pester people. For example, some believe that the human aura attracts annoying insects. The more negative it is, the more flies will attack its owner. Others are confident that dipteran hunters choose only negative individuals as “victims” and ignore positive ones.

There is also a theory that flies cannot distinguish between a living organism and an inanimate object. But scientists have proven that this is not true. Insects are much smarter than they are thought to be. For this reason, huge blowflies (except in the autumn period) ignore people and only annoy people with rotten pieces of meat and animal corpses. Vegetarian flies, for which human skin serves as a source of food, will never confuse it, for example, with a kitchen table.

Solution

Having understood the reasons why flies pester a person, you should think about how to avoid this contact. A few simple methods will help with this:

Windows and doors should be covered with mosquito nets, which also protect the home from mosquitoes and other uninvited winged guests.
On the street or at a picnic, aerosols or special creams designed to kill gnats and flies will save you from annoying dipterans. All protective equipment can be purchased at the pharmacy. Their choice is quite large, so you can choose protection taking into account your individual needs. All products are available without a prescription.
You should not buy products on open markets that do not undergo heat treatment (homemade sausages, dried fish, cottage cheese). This is especially true in hot weather.
Infants and small children in a crib or stroller should be covered with mesh or airy fabric. You also need to make sure that flies do not bite the baby.
Hygiene should be monitored regularly. Of course, it won’t be possible to completely wash away the fat from yourself, but it is possible to reduce the smell of the wave.
Clothes should be clean, free of stains and food debris that attract flies.
It’s worth thinking about changing your perfume: perhaps the insects are attracted to the smell of perfume or eau de toilette.
You can purchase special sticky trap tapes or fumigators. Also, for protection, it is worth placing bouquets of tansy on the windowsills.
You can wipe the kitchen table with vinegar: then not a single insect will land on it.
If there is a large concentration of dipterans, you can scatter black pepper mixed with sugar in different places in the house.
Saccharin is a potent poison for hordes of flies. It needs to be mixed with a small amount of honey, spread on newspaper and placed on the windowsills.
One effective way is to use essential oils, such as clove, lavender, peppermint, lemongrass, and eucalyptus.
In private homes where there are many pets, their latrines should be cleaned more often. It is better to sprinkle toilets with bleach. Drain holes must be tightly covered with lids.

If a fly flew into the house

One fly by itself does not make any difference and does not foreshadow anything significant. It is simply impossible to imagine a summer in which at least a dozen or two of these annoying creatures did not sneak into the apartment! But if an impressive company of flies scurries around the ceiling day and night, it’s unpleasant and alarming: why would it happen all of a sudden? Experts in superstitions in such cases console the owners with the sign: “Many flies - a lot of money.”

Of course, if you can’t correct the situation, you can put up with the dominance of the flies and prepare a wallet for the promised wealth. But it’s still wiser to check the area for any unregistered garbage dumps nearby.

This is especially true for the private sector, where you are closer to the land and the risk of encountering unscrupulous neighbors is higher.

If flies buzz loudly, rush about and behave especially violently, the belief suggests that you should expect a quarrel between households. And nothing surprising! No one knows how to fray your nerves like a housefly, and we usually take our irritation out on those closest to us.
If winged insects stick to a person and bite, bad weather and cold weather are coming. Or the summer heat has taken its toll and you need to hurry to the shower and wash off the sweat.
If a fly appears in a house in winter, it means someone’s death, a dead person. Perhaps, in a cold and dark peasant hut, an insect resurrected in the middle of January really seemed like a miracle, and an unkind one at that. But in our time this phenomenon is not so rare that one rushes to write a will. The fly just warmed up next to the warm radiator and emerged from its winter hibernation earlier than expected. If you want to be on the safe side, knock on the window glass and say clearly: “This trouble is not for us.”

There is no house that a fly cannot enter

The danger posed by gadflies

The gadfly is another species of fly dangerous to humans. These insects live mainly near animal pastures, since they are their main target. Unlike their biting relatives, they do not feed on the blood of other creatures. Moreover, scientists have recently discovered that adults do not need food at all. The reserves they acquired while at the larval stage are quite enough for them.

However, a completely justified question arises: why do they bite animals? The fact is that when they bite, they lay their eggs under the skin of the victim, thereby providing them with an excellent source of food. Let's be honest, after the larvae hatch from the eggs, the poor animal experiences terrible pain, as they literally eat his body from the inside.

But the main danger is that gadflies can lay their eggs on human skin. Even if this happens rarely, the consequences of this accident are extremely sad. After all, the only reliable way to get rid of larvae is to partially remove the infected area of flesh.

Entomologists' version

According to entomologists, the main reasons why these insects like to land on humans are warmth and food. During flight, insects expend a lot of energy. The same happens during egg laying. In this regard, there is a need for nutrients and protein, which these creatures find on the human body.

Annoying insects are attracted not only by the smell, but also by particles of exfoliated skin, secreted fat or sweat, and salt. The fly carefully examines the human body with its paws (it is on them that the taste buds are located) and, having discovered “deposits” of food, they begin to eat. It dissolves sweat particles and sebaceous secretions with saliva , which contain potassium, calcium, protein and phosphoric acid.

The structural features of the oral apparatus (the insect's mouth is adapted only for the absorption of liquid or jelly food) greatly facilitate the process of absorption of food using the tongue, divided into two separate channels, through each of which food is absorbed.

The second reason for “stickiness,” especially in the morning, is the heat emanating from a person. Cold-blooded insects use external heat sources to warm themselves. They do not have memory and within a few seconds after they have been driven away from their homes, they return to the body again.