Flying pests are incredibly annoying and can pose a real threat to your livestock and workers. From common house flies to wasps, each brings their own unique dangers to your farm or workspace. It’s essential to put the right steps in place to eliminate them before they can cause distress.
We understand that realising you have a flying insect infestation can be concerning and stressful. The expert team here at AFS Supplies are on hand to give advice and product recommendations to prevent and wipe out these insect pests. Check our ranges of insecticide concentrates and ready-to-use insecticides to see the wide selection of products we have on offer.
First, though, identifying the flying insects bothering your livestock helps you to be better prepared to invest in the right insecticide products. Let’s talk about flying insects, their maggot and larvae forms, and what you can do to kill and deter future infestations in this fourth and final post of our common UK pests series.
Flying insects
We’ve listed the most common flying insect pests that pose problems in farms and workplaces in the UK, along with the best insecticide products for the job.
Flies
Flies can be split into two categories: non-biting and biting. Both are irritating and both are capable of carrying and transmitting diseases, including bird flu (avian influenza), salmonella, e. Coli, anthrax, and brachyspira. Flies can also cause a lot of stress and discomfort simply from buzzing around animals, which can lead to a disruption in their normal grazing. In turn, this impacts their feed intake through restless behaviour, which can affect their health.
Non-biting flies, such as the common house fly and the lesser house fly, are mechanical vectors, which means they can transmit pathogens collected on the outside of their body without biting. This is part of what makes non-biting flies so frustrating, and not something to ignore in the hopes that they will just go away.
Common house flies and lesser house flies are grey to black. They are very similar in looks, however, the common fly is wider than the lesser and around 1mm longer, with smaller eyes.
Fruit flies are also frustrating. Tiny, orange-brown pests, these flies are attracted to rotting food and will contaminate food sources with harmful bacteria and pathogens.
Biting flies, like horse flies, stable flies and mosquitoes, are more troublesome. They can spread disease more successfully than non-biting flies by injecting their infected saliva straight into the skin as they bite. Not only this, but they feed on blood, which can cause anaemia in farm animals and greatly affect their health.
Stable flies can be identified by their brownish-grey colour and the chequered pattern on the abdomen. Its proboscis is long and pointed, which can be seen even when the fly is at rest. Identify mosquitoes by their humped body with segmented head, thorax and abdomen, long wings, and six long legs. Horse flies are perhaps the easiest to identify, as they can grow to 3cm long and have large green or purple eyes.
Because flies are such a nuisance, there are a lot of fantastic insecticides available to kill them. We recommend Lodi Twenty One Fly Killer, a unique product in that it can be sprayed or painted directly into animal housing onto walls, ceilings and floors once mixed with water.
For spaces that are difficult to reach, we recommend the Coopex Maxi Smoke Generators. They’re fast and the smoke penetrates every tricky corner, targeting flies, fleas, roaches, and ants.
For a more visible approach, use a trap. The Red Top Fly Catcher continues to be one of the most popular fly killer products across many industries. Simply fill it with water to mix with the powder inside, hang it up 10m away from areas of high fly activity in sun spots, and you can catch up to 20,000 flies in one trap.
Wasps
Wasps are fairly disliked across the board thanks to their nasty sting and angry temperament. It’s thought that between approximately 1% and 5% of people are allergic to insect stings and could suffer fatal reactions, but did you know animals can be allergic to wasps too? Just like with humans, animals can suffer uncomfortable rashes, swelling, and even death in the case of an allergy.
Wasps can be identified by their long bodies, defined segmentation of the thorax and abdomen, and black and yellow stripes. To remove these pests, use a product like Permost Uni, which can be sprayed in and around farm buildings and onto porous or non-porous surfaces to kill off flying and crawling insects.
If you’d rather take a trap approach to a wasp problem, use the Wasp Pro Trap with Wasp Lure. This can be used anywhere, from farms to restaurants, to catch wasps. Simply pour the lure into the trap and the highly attractive pheromones in the solution will do the work. The lure will work for up to two weeks, after which you can tip out the dead wasps and refill as and when needed.
Moths
Moths can pose a real problem to materials and food stores in agricultural settings. Many species chew their way through wood, fabrics, or grains, causing irritating and often costly damage. The most difficult moths to deal with are those that get into grain, as they’ll eat the food and contaminate it with their excrement, also known as frass, and their webbing, which leads to food waste.
To identify whether you may have a moth problem, look for fluttering brown insects with large wings. Check packaging for tiny holes, then for webbing or silken threads and reddish-brown frass in the grain. A great product for the control of moths is Cimetrol by Pelgar, designed to eliminate a wide array of insects.
AFS Supplies are ready to help
Insect infestations are no small matter. A few flies buzzing around may seem inconsequential, but if an infestation begins, your livestock and workers could suffer. By contacting the knowledgeable team here at AFS Supplies, we can offer you advice and product recommendations backed by years of experience in the industry. Give us a call on 01842 765 634 and let’s work together to find the best insecticide for your situation and environment.
