House  

Flies: Control  &  Effective  Resistance  Management

Insecticide   Resistance   Action   Committee

House  Fly  Biology Economic  Thresholds Insecticide  Resistance  Management

Musc a domestic a is consi dered to be the num ber one Ec onomic thres hol ds for hous e fly Although r esistanc e i n
hy giene pest and is distri buted w orldwi de. It is ass oci ated contr ol ar e situati on dependent, i.e. hous e flies is wide-­s pread,
with animal faeces, but has als o adapted to feed on other in food producti on toler anc e is very an i ntegrated approac h
waste materi als. H ouse fli es hav e a c om pl ete low, w hereas i n liv estock or poultry that includes both c ultural
metam orphosis with up to 12 generations per y ear i n producti on a low num ber of fli es m ay tec hniques , al ong with
tem perate regi ons. A femal e fly can lay betw een 300 and be accepted. the us e of adultici des and
500 eggs during her life. larvicides fr om differ ent
IRAC M oA clas ses,
Insecticides  Mode  of  Action  Classes Hous e flies‘ gr eat fecundity
shoul d be us ed in a
rotati onal str ategy to
and r api d lifecy cle, al ong maintai n the fly population
Complete   metamorphosis N e rve tra n sm issio n
Application  methods with alm os t c onstant bel ow economic
ex posur e to i ns ectici des in thr es hol ds , w hils t delaying
q Residual   treatment   (RT) som e setti ngs, has l ed to devel opm ent of
Damage  and  Medical  Importance q Space   treatment   (ST) signific ant insec tici de insecticide resistance.
q Larviciding   (L) resistanc e iss ues. Many fly
Hous e fli es live in cl os e ass oci ati on with hum ans and c an q Feed-­through   (FT) popul ati ons ar e r esistant to
be im portant vectors of a num ber of dis eas es, picki ng up q Baits   (B) one or mor e adulticide, and
AChE

pathogens at their br eedi ng and feeding sites, e.g.

Na+ +
Na
Na+
lower l ev el r esistanc e is
anim al and hum an excrem ent, and dom estic r ubbi sh. nAChR often present to larvici des.
Such dis eas es c an c aus e c hild death and bli ndness . vg-­N a + Highli ghti ng the need to
c ha nne l

Hous e fli es hav e been dem ons trated to c arry mor e than include insec tici de
100 different pathogens such as virus es , bacteria, fungi Chemical class Mode of action (IRAC Group) Appl. resistanc e m anagement in
and parasitic w orm eggs . T hey c an devel op i n lar ge all fly control programmes
Carbamates Acetylcholines ter as e      (1A)    RT,  B
num bers r es ulti ng in annoyanc e to liv estock with a
Organophos phates Acetylcholines ter as e      (1B)    RT,  ST,  B
subs equent reduc tion in yi el d in m eat, dairy and egg
Pyrethroids Sodium   channel                    (3)          RT,  ST
producti on. They c an als o c aus e post producti on food
spoilage. H ow ev er, in the wi der environm ent, hous e flies
Neonicotinoids Acetylcholine   receptor   (4A)    B Further  Reading
Spinosyns Acetylcholine   receptor   (5)          B
play an im portant r ole br eaking dow n and r ecycli ng
Pyriproxyfen JH  mimics                                        (7C)    L
organic waste. Additional   information  
Benzoylureas Chitin   biosynthesis     (15)      L
on   control   measures  
Cyromazine Moulting   disruption            (17)      L,  FT
against
Diamides Ryanodine   receptor          (28)      B
house   flies  is
available   in  the  
Insecticides   from  different   IRAC   MoA  classes   should   be  
WHO  brochure:  
used   in  rotation   as  part   of  an   integrated   resistance  
Pesticides
management   programme.   Adulticides   and   larvicides   from  the  
and   their  application.
same   MoA   class   should   not   be   used   contemporaneously  

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for   how  this  information   is  u s ed  o r  interpreted.   Adv ic e  s hould  a lway s  b e  s ought  from   loc al  e x perts  o r  a dv is ors  a nd  h ealth  a nd s afety  r ec ommendations  followed.
Designed   and   produced   by   the   IRAC  Public   Health   Team,   June   2015.   Photographs   courtesy   of   Dr. Reiner   Pospischil.