Fly Parasites are BENEFICIAL insects that attack flies. Putting them in areas of fly breeding is an easy and cost effective method of Biological Fly Control. Fly problems occur as a direct result of excessive fly breeding. Each day, countless numbers of flies will emerge from an untreated breeding site. All day long, every day, you get more flies. Before long, spraying the flies becomes a losing battle,like putting a bucket under a leaking faucet. Doesn't it make more sense to stop the leak?

Fly Parasites are very small harmless insects that nature has programmed to attack and kill flies. They lay their eggs inside the immature stage of the fly in the breeding site and the fly becomes food for their young. Since they eat only an immature stage of flies and flower nectar, they will not bother any other animals. And their need for flies, in order to reproduce, provides a strong and natural incentive to do all the work: search and destroy.

All you have to do is simply release them around the fly breeding sites. It takes just a few minutes, and it's the easiest, most sensible method of fly control to be found.

The Source supplies a proprietary mix of several parasite species. Through over twenty years of research and testing, we have determined this mix to be the most effective in controlling fly populations around livestock. These species are able to complete a generation every two to three weeks. For several reasons, however, the parasite population needs continuous reinforcement to maintain a high level of fly control. The main reason is that the flies have a distinct advantage in actual numbers produced. A single fly will lay up to 800 eggs, but a single parasite will attack only up to 50 fly pupae.  Also, the life cycle of the fly is much shorter than that of the parasite.  The fly simply reproduces more often, contributing to the pest's advantage in reproductive capability.  Does this mean Fly Parasites are not an efficient means of fly control?  It does not!  When fly parasites are introduced early and their population is maintained through the fly season, the flies are unable to increase their numbers. To gain and maintain control of your fly problem is easy and affordable.

Flies cause great discomfort to many animals.  They torture the animals by biting and can cause allergic skin conditions, especially in horses, where fly bite allergy is the most common skin disease found.  Flies irritate the animals' eyes, which can cause serious infections.  They are attracted to wounds, complicating them with infection.  Flies carry contagious diseases from one animal to others. As an example, again using horses, they can easily transmit a cold, flu or strangles.  The use of pesticides over the past decades has created insecticide resistant flies.  In many cases, flies can now resist a pesticide dose 10 times as concentrated as just a few years ago.  The answer to the pest problem is not larger quantities of pesticides, it is preventing the flies reproduction.  This can be accomplished by Biological Fly Control and manure management.
Fly Parasites are very easy to use.  They are shipped in their pupal stage packed in clean pine shavings to insulate and protect them during shipment.

Effective fly control has long been an elusive goal of man.  Since World War II chemical agents have been the primary weapons.  Now, increased resistance of fly populations to these chemicals, widespread ecological damage and prohibitive costs necessitate other methods.  It has long been known that there are many insects that are beneficial to man.  Some of these insects can be used to control "pest" insects. For example, Lacewings and Trichogramma help control agricultural pests.  Similarly, a tiny insect called the Fly Parasite can help control those flies which create such a nuisance around livestock. 

Fly Parasites are beneficial insects that lay their eggs in the immature stage of the fly known as the pupa stage.  The developing Fly Parasite consumes the fly as food and serves as an important preventative measure, since a female fly killed in this way is kept from laying up to 800 eggs later on as an adult. Fly Parasites are natural enemies of flies, and there are species present throughout the world, wherever flies breed.  In the United States, several different species have been found and studied extensively to determine their effectiveness in fly control.  Those species have been identified in reports from the USDA and independent researchers.  Shipped to the customer in the form of parasitized fly pupae, the insects are easily handled, as they are still developing within the fly pupa they are consuming.  Once their growth cycle has been completed, they cut a hole in the pupal casing, and then leave as adults to search out and parasitize more flies.  Releases are usually done when the first of these adults begin to emerge and involves nothing more than sprinkling the pupal casings in and around the areas of fly breeding.  Once released, each insect will then kill 40-50 flies, and in a period of two to three weeks another generation of beneficial insects is born.  Fly Parasites are not able to use anything but flies in order to have offspring.  They do not bite, sting, nest or swarm and will not become a nuisance to livestock.  And because they are nocturnal, these extremely small insects are rarely seen during daylight hours unless one searches carefully in areas where flies are breeding.

Fly Parasites are USDA approved for mass release.  As Fly Parasites are naturally occuring insects, which do not interact with animals or insects other than flies, they can be released without fear of negative effects.

To achieve the greatest reduction of flies, one should employ a combination of measures that work hand-in-hand. Known as Integrated Fly Control, this includes:

Biological Control: The use of Fly Parasites on a regular basis along with traps and natural baits.
The need for chemical sprays can be greatly reduced by adopting a program of Biological Fly Control. Such a program includes regular releases of Fly Parasites, aimed at destroying flies at their sources, or breeding sites. It also includes the use of traps with attractant baits which will help eliminate the adult fly population.

Cultural Control: Using good sanitation practices.
No fly control program will be successful if manure is allowed to pile up around the premesis. The most effective method of manure management is to spread it thinly on fields where it will dry quickly as the pest larva are highly susceptible to this drying process. If spreading isn't practical the manure should be piled. This reduces the surface area and results in heat generation within the pile, driving the pest larvae to the surface within reach of the control method. Elimination of as many wet areas as possible and the use of hydrated lime on the areas where your animals urinate frequently are also helpful.

Chemical Control: The use of pesticides should be aimed at adult fly populations.
Sprays may be safely used in non-manure areas where flies congregate, such as rafters in the evenings, fence rails and barn sides in the morning sunshine and shady places in the heat of the day. In addition, sprays and wipes may be used on the animals themselves. Chemical baits can help eliminate the adult fly population. Applying poisons to the breeding habitat does more harm than good, as Fly Parasites and other beneficial organisms are thus destroyed.

Fly control should be preventative. It is much easier to prevent a buildup of flies than it is to get rid of them. Starting a Biological Control Program as early in the spring as possible is a very important part of the Integrated Fly Control Program.