Blow fly, family Calliphoridae are commonly referred to bottle flies. This nickname comes from their coloring, which can be iridescent blue, green or copper. They can be rather pretty but their maggots can reach full size within 3 days after being laid as eggs by the female. [1] X Research source They reproduce rapidly during the warm weather. Some species also have an adaptable appetite for sweets as well, which is why they are found feeding on flower nectar and leftover sugars on food containers. House fly, Musca domestica is very easily recognizable by it’s dull gray to brown body. Females live for about 3 to 4 weeks before laying 60 to 100 eggs. They reproduce less abundantly than blow flies but also will cause maggots in manure and rotting vegetation. Little house fly, Fannia Canicularis is similar to the house fly but smaller. Their life cycle is 3 to 4 weeks. They also rest with wings held to together. Stable fly, Stomoxys calcitrans and False stable fly, Muscina Stabulans look similar to house flies but have checkerboard markings and are smaller. The stable fly has a painful bite and also sucks blood from mammals, while false stable flies do not. This species can live for 17 to 50 days and lay eggs in soiled pet bedding and food dishes. The false stable fly also lays eggs in dead insects and bird nests to feed its parasitic larvae. Both can lay eggs in tainted meat products as well. It’s extremely important to ID the type of maggot, since the species may tell you a lot about how to get rid of the bugs. Contact a pest specialist if you aren’t comfortable ID’ing the bug (or don’t know how) and ask the pro for help.
Maggots are attracted to organic material, so anything you can do to keep maggots from getting into your trash will help dramatically.
There are bags with fragrances which can be irritating to some people and don’t smell like the real source of the original fragrances. You can always find natural alternatives and make your own.
Also clean the rags used in cleaning up the meat juice and newspaper clippings used in preparation (keeping, say, fish scales neater instead of all over the place) with scalding hot water or in a tightly sealed bag or container before tossing out.
Don’t put rotting plant matter in the same can as the household trash. If you do you’ll have triple trouble with stable flies, blow flies and houseflies. Put it in a separate landscape bag or in a sealed container before tossing it out into the trash can.
