How Long Do Flies Live?

House fly perched on a plant stalk

How long a fly lives depends on its species and the temperature of its environment. In warm, humid environments with plentiful food, flies could live as few as 15 days. In cool, dry environments, fly development tends to take longer.

The faster flies grow, the faster they lay eggs. The faster they lay eggs, the more flies they produce! There are four common flies in Michigan: house flies, fruit flies, cluster flies, and phorid flies. Here’s how to figure out which fly you have and what to do about them:

Which flies do I have?

House flies

House fly

House flies (Musca domestica) are the most common fly infesting most homes. These flies are ⅛ to ¼” long, with grey bodies, red eyes, and four dark stripes. 

Female house flies lay eggs directly inside organic matter whenever possible. Inside your home, you’ll probably find these flies around trash bags, dumpsters, or dirty water. House flies make a distinctive buzzing noise when flying. 

Fruit flies

Fruit flies (Drosphila melanogaster) are around ⅛” long, tan, and have large red eyes. They lay their eggs in the moist film that develops on food and beverages as they ferment. 

Inside, you’ll find them near fruit, vegetables, garbage, and water. They’re especially common in kitchens, garbage disposals, open bottles and cans, and around mops and cleaning rags. 

Cluster flies

Cluster flies

Cluster flies (Pollenia rudis) look similar to house flies, but they’re slightly larger. Adult cluster flies are dull-grey with black markings. They also have yellow hairs on their thorax, which made give them a golden sheen. 

Cluster flies bury their eggs in the soil so larvae can feed on earthworms. You may see them clustered around your windows and doors, especially during the fall.

Phorid flies

Phorid flies

Phorid flies (Phoridae) resemble fruit flies, but they have long legs and lack the fruit flies’ red eyes. They’re about ⅛” long and translucent tan. Unlike other flies on this list, Phorid flies are not particularly competent fliers. 

They travel mostly by “scuttling” along surfaces. They feed and nest on decaying organic matter and stagnant, dirty water. They’re especially common around plumbing leaks.

How long do flies live?

House flies

In warm conditions, house flies complete their developmental cycles in as few as seven to ten days. During that time, house flies undergo complete metamorphosis with egg, larval, maggot, pupal, and adult stages. Adults usually live 15 to 25 days, but they could live for up to two months. House flies can reproduce immediately upon reaching adulthood and a single female fly can produce up to 3,000 eggs.

Fruit flies

In optimal conditions, fruit flies can advance from egg to adulthood in only eight to ten or ten to twelve days. They undergo embryo, larva, and pupal stages before reaching adulthood. Adults usually live around 30 additional days after metamorphosis. They reproduce immediately after reaching adulthood, and females can lay eggs 24 hours after mating. Each female fly can lay up to 500 eggs in her lifetime.

Cluster flies

Cluster fly development takes between 27 to 39 days. These flies go through egg, larvae, pupal, and adult stages. Adults lay eggs in the soil. Hatched larvae develop in earthworms. Flies don’t appear above ground until they’re fully developed. Adult cluster flies live longer than most flies and may overwinter in homes. Some cluster flies may live for up to one year. 

Phorid flies

A Phorid flies’ complete life cycle could take only fourteen days under optimal conditions. A single female phorid fly can lay up to 500 eggs in her lifetime. These eggs hatch within 24 hours. The resulting larvae feed for 8 to 16 days and then pupate into adults quickly. Flies can reproduce and restart the cycle as soon as they reach adulthood.

House flies swarming on a rotting onion in a garbage can

How do I keep these flies out of my home?

Flies are attracted to decaying organic material. House flies, fruit flies, and phorid flies seek out fermenting liquids and rotting food. Cluster flies live near rotting logs and stumps or dying weeds and grass that attract earthworms. Rinse out containers before throwing them away. Keep garbage and recycling in sealed plastic bags. Take out your garbage and recycling every night. Clean out your garbage cans and dumpsters frequently.  

Most the flies on this list are also attracted to moisture and humidity, especially near food. Flies are great at finding and exploiting plumbing leaks, condensation, and other sources of excess moisture. Look for leaks, condensation, dripping fixtures, and run-off in your kitchen, basement, and attic. Fix leaks, seal drafts with caulk, and clean up puddles and other water sources. Clean dirty drains and other sources of food or water back up, inside and outside.

 

As flies establish themselves, they’ll lay eggs, spread out, and entrench themselves in your home. Unfortunately, however, it can also be difficult to stop a fly infestation before it’s bad. Especially if they’re reproducing this quickly! Luckily, even if flies have established themselves in your home, you don’t have to put up with it.

If you have a fly problem, give Griffin Pest Solutions a call any time. Our experts will identify your fly, find its nests, wipe it out, and keep it from getting in again.

Where Are All These Flies Coming From?

A cluster of fruit flies on a surface - Keep flies away from your home with Griffin Pest Solutions

It’s getting to be that time of year again. Just when it was finally getting nice out again, they return: the flies. Thousands of them. Hundreds of thousands of them. It seems like they’re everywhere, especially around your home. And all of a sudden!

What are these flies? Where are they coming from? Why now? Most importantly, what can you do about them? Don’t worry: we’re here to answer all your fly questions. Hopefully, we can help make your spring fly-free in the process.

What are the flies in my home?

There are several different common varieties of fly that commonly enter people’s homes. Each type of fly wants different things and behaves in different ways:

  • House flies are amongst the most common insect pests infesting houses in Michigan. They’re ⅛ to ¼ inches long, dark grey, broad flies with dark stripes and dark red eyes. They live in garbage, particularly moist or rotting organic material.
  • Fruit flies and specifically the common fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster are very common house infesters. These flies are only 3 to 4 mm long, tan or clear-colored flies with bright red eyes. Fruit flies live in fermenting liquids, especially sugary liquids.
  • Blowflies are particularly common in spring and summer. They’re round, metallic green, blue, or copper-colored and only around ¼ to ½ inches long.
  • Phorid flies look similar to a fruit fly. Both are very small (1/16 to ⅛ inches long), tan-colored, and have red eyes. Phorid flies are attracted to light, garbage, and humidity.

If you’re dealing with a fly problem this spring, chances are these are your culprits.

What do flies want?

What do they want?

As you probably noticed, each of the flies we’ve listed has a few things in common. The big one? Garbage. Virtually every fly loves living around, reproducing in, and feeding on garbage. Even more specifically, they love moist, rotting, or fermenting organic material. They’re attracting to any garbage that rots, breaks down, or starts to smell.

Flies can live off of and produce eggs in a very thin film of moisture. Even runoff from plumbing leaks or condensation from drafts is enough. If you have flies in your home, then they’re probably using rotting material or humidity nearby as a nest. Most flies reproduce indoors constantly and frequently whenever they can.

Where did they come from?

Unfortunately, most of the flies in your home were probably born there. They lay eggs in thin films of moisture near food sources. When the eggs hatch, offspring feed and grow rapidly until they’re fully grown. Then, the fully-grown adults reproduce, and the cycle begins again.

Before they can start reproducing, however, the first generation has to get inside your home somehow. That can happen a couple of ways. First, the pests are very good at sensing temperature changes and smelling out rotting food. They’ll follow the smell of rotting food to drafts, then use small cracks to wiggle inside.

Why are flies here now?

Why are they here now?

The speed of a flies’ life cycles is determined mostly by temperature. During warm seasons, most fly species complete their life cycles extremely quickly. Houseflies, for instance, may complete their life cycle from egg to adult in seven to ten days. The longer and warmer the summer, the more the pests will grow, mate, and spread.

Files have incredible reproductive capabilities: a single fruit fly, for instance, could lay up to 500 eggs. They seem especially prevalent in spring and summer because warm outdoor temperatures allow them to reproduce even more frequently. It’s not just you; they really are pretty much everywhere.

What can I do about them?

If you can keep pests from accessing moisture, you can keep them from reproducing in your home. Flies usually find moisture around garbage or another source of food. Keep garbage cans sealed whenever you aren’t using them. Take out all your garbage every night before bed. Rinse out and dry containers before disposing of them.

Pay close attention to possible plumbing leaks and other sources of runoff. Check under sinks in the kitchen and bathroom, especially around garbage. Consider investing in dehumidifiers for particularly humid areas of your home. Clean up and prevent any other sources of excess moisture, too. No matter how small it may seem, flies can and will use it.

 

Once established, flies can be annoyingly difficult to get rid of. It’s quite hard to find fly eggs, and once they hatch you’ll have a new generation to deal with. It’s much easier to avoid letting pests reproduce in your home in the first place. By following these tips, you can do just that.

Of course, maybe you already have flies in your home. In that case, we recommend giving Griffin Pest Control a call right away. Our experts can find and wipe out your fly infestation, no matter how hidden or entrenched. Don’t let flies ruin the nice weather for you; call today!