Are corn flies a big menace at your Homestead or crop field?
What are Corn flies?
Have you ever come across a corn fly? You may have because they always hover around your place every day. Corn flies are also known as hoverflies or flower flies. You may have seen some an insect somewhere that looks like a wasp. You almost broke your leg trying to escape from being stung, right?
However, corn flies are stingless insects. They often feed on nectar and pollen. Due to similarity in color to wasps, you are troubled on many occasions when meeting with them.
Corn flies are much like sweat bees. They have golden color with dark rings around its abdomen. There are about 6000 species in 200 genera.
Why you need you need to keep them around
Do you hate corn flies? You need to think twice about it. Corn flies don’t hurt, and they are helpful when you have pest infestations in your garden. Are you an organic farmer or gardener? If so, you may be wondering how you can contain the infestation of aphids on your cabbages, corn plantation, and many other crops.
Aphids usually cause millions of dollars of damages to crops around the globe. Corn flies are known as natural aphid-eaters, and that is why they are acknowledged as significant organic technique of controlling pests. Furthermore, adult corn flies help in biological activity known as pollination.
How to Get Corn flies around Homestead?
Some people will find it challenging to cohabit with these flies, especially around the house, right? There are some ways you apply around that will help you to do it. Corn flies are attracted to sugary things, and that is why you may find then over your sugar container. Don’t worry anymore; here are ways you use to get rid of them very quickly.
- Have a fly trap
When you go to shop a fly trap, you need to understand whether you want to get rid of them entirely or not. Some of you may have find nuisance when one of these corn flies go astray and enter your house. Thinking that it is a wasp, you will feel terrorized.
Some fly traps may end up killing them, and others may not. Use the best fly trap to solve such a predicament. Take a look of some fly traps you can use;
- Fly tapes – Do you know how it works? Fly tapes are sticky material that usually on the wall of the house. It would be best if you attracted them to the trap. Therefore, you need to sugary substances like sugar suspension or corn oil. When you do this, you may easily trap them
- Use vinegar as a bait – corn flies are easily attracted to vinegar. You devise a container or soft drink (soda) bottle that you can put vinegar. Mix it with a drop of liquid soap. When you prepare such a solution, corn flies will be attracted to the vinegar and held by the solvent.
- Use sugar solution – You put some spoonful of sugar in some amount of water in plate or bowl. Cover the container with a clear plastic that has small holes enough to allow in the corn flies. When the flies get into the trap, they will find it hard to get out and become trapped.
- Plant insect-feeding plants – How you ever heard of fly trapping plants? Well, we have two commonly known plants; Sundew and Venus Flytrap. These plants always have a mechanism to attract corn flies and kill them.
- Use remote-controlled zappers – You may visit that local shopping center and acquire one zapper. Zapper attracts corn flies around your house, and you electrocute them using your remote. Some zappers are charged, and its installation is just like bulbs hanged over under the ceiling of your home.
- Buy a fan if you don’t have one.
Fans increase the speed of air around your house. Corn flies will hate to stay around such an environment because it hinders their movement around. You will need to keep your fan on always in case when corn flies visit your house more frequently. When the flies always find such an unconducive environment, they will move elsewhere.
- Grow flowers around your Homestead
You may find it very uncomfortable to stay with corn flies, and you find it difficult measures stated above. A better friendly way of tackling them is by flowering plants around your house. These plants should be able to provide nectar and pollen to them. You understand nectar and pollen are the primary food for them.
When you have flowers around the house, corn flies will have a conducive environment to lay eggs. When these eggs reach the larvae stage, you may have found a better way of controlling pests around your Homestead. In the case when you solely plant these plants for the purpose, you will never find a single corn fly bothering you.
- Buy an insect repellent
It is another friendly method of scaring away corn flies. There are several fly repellents you can find in the market, here are some of the brands you can use;
v Zap Multi Insect Killer
v Raid One Shoot Multi-purpose
v Mortein Fast Knockdown Multi Insect Killer
v Black Flag Rapid Kill Blowfly Strength & Insect Killer
Although the use of such synthetic method is highly not recommended. The reason behind it? You can easily create damages and health concerns to your family members and pets. These fly repellents are generally in the form of aerosol sprays. Sprays are most flammable, and any careless handling can cause damages in the case of fires.
Final Overview
Since now you can easily compare a corn fly and a wasp by color and body characteristics, you don’t need to panic when they are around. Corn flies don’t sting or bite. When you many corn flies in your garden, you can easily eradicate pests around you.
When you a large population of corn flies around you, it is advisable to use eco-friendly methods stated above. These methods will help to retain them in the environment because of their biological benefits. Use the above techniques, depending on the effectiveness and number of corn fly around you. Please protect them rather than killing them.