Common Flies
House Fly
The house fly is the most widespread fly in Australia. These flies are likely to harbour disease organisms on their bodies as they often frequent between foods for human consumption and waste materials (e.g. animal excrement). An abundance of house flies in a particular rural or urban area can be seen as an indicator of inefficient waste disposal, as this is where house flies prefer to breed.
Blowflies & Flesh Flies
Aside from the noticeable ‘buzzing’ noise emitted by blowflies, the reason for their name-sake is the attraction of female blowflies to exposed meat, including wounds of livestock. The female blowfly prefer to lay the eggs in these areas, thus the area being ‘blown’. This poses a serious threat to human health as the spread of disease from meat sources can often be transferred onto other items that the blowflies frequent, for example, cooking utensils. The general appearance of blowflies differs between species, however the most common colours on the thorax and abdomen of blowflies are metallic green, plain brown or brown and blue.
