House fly (Musca domestica): A review of control strategies for a challenging pest

Abstract

Musca domestica L. (Diptera: Muscidae), commonly called the house fly, is a major domestic, medical and veterinary pest that causes irritation, spoils food and acts as a vector for many pathogenic organisms. In this paper, the social and health problems related to housefly are introduced with the associated need to control its population. Physical and chemical methods of house fly control are briefly discussed. The main focus of this review is on the biological control methods for house fly control, that comprise botanical, fungal, bacterial and parasitoid agents. Although several biocontrol agents are still in the nascent stage, some of them (especially fungal and parasitoid agents) have shown reliable field performance and seem to be suitable candidates for commercialization. However, the majority of these laboratory and field studies have been conducted in the temperate region. It remains to be seen whether the application of biocontrol agents would be feasible in tropical environments. The integrated pest management practices, which can provide more reliable field performance, have also been discussed. A multi-dimensional approach that exerts control on all the life stages of house fly, but simultaneously preserves the fly's natural enemies could be an ecologically sustainable way of maintaining the fly populations below maximally acceptable limits.

Morpho-Molecular Characterization and Virulence Determination of Entomopathogenic Fungal Isolates Native to Indian Subcontinent

“…Most of these studies reports use of ENPFs for control of agricultural pests [2,3]. However, some other studies depict ENPF activity against pests of vector significance, such as mosquitoes and house fly [4,5].…”

“…The spore hydrophobicity of fungal isolates was determined by the method described by Shan et al [18] 4 .7H 2 O, 0.2 g) containing 0.02% (v/v) Tween 80 at pH of 7.12. The spore suspension was standardized to 2 × 10 6 spores/ml, followed by addition of 0.1% liquid paraffin.…”

“…The literature is replete with studies employing potential of ENPFs (e.g., Entomophthora muscae, Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium anisopliae etc.) for insect control [2][3][4][5]. Most of these studies reports use of ENPFs for control of agricultural pests [2,3].…”

“…The vector potential of M. domestica has been proved for the propagation of protozoan (amoebic dysentery), bacterial (shigellosis, salmonellosis, cholera), helminthic (round worms, hookworms, pinworms and tapeworms), viral (Turkey Corona virus, Reticuloendotheliosis virus, H5N1 influenza virus) and rickettsial infections, among others [4]. The study by Barro et al [6], revealed M. domestica to be predominant fly associated with street-food vendors in Ouagadougou which carried isolates of Coliform, Salmonella, Shigella, Staphylococci and Streptococci on both their legs and proboscis, while Barin et al [7], demonstrated presence of Newcastle disease virus in the significant number of adult muscid flies collected from 20 poultry farms near Tehran, Iran.…”

Comparison of the Olfactory Preferences of Four of Filth Fly Pupal Parasitoid Species (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) for Hosts in Equine and Bovine Manure

“…These flies have the ability to mechanically vector a wide variety of pathogenic microorganisms to humans and livestock and may have a role in the dispersal of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (Graczyk et al 2001;Zurek & Ghosh 2014). There is critical need for house fly management tools because of increasing resistance to conventional insecticides (Malik et al 2007;Scott et al 2013). Pteromalid pupal parasitoids provide one of the most common and readily available biological controls for fly management (Machtinger & Geden 2017).…”