Flies winning the spray battle
An unprecedented summer fly infestation has pushed Taranaki fly spray supplies to the limit and seen a run on alterative fly control methods.
At Waitara’s Big Jims Garden Centre owner Vince Naus said the centre had run out of venus fly traps after selling more than 100 of the carnivorous plants.
‘‘We are having trouble getting more now because the people who supply us have run out of them.’’ Naus said other plants known to reduce the fly problem were also in hot demand. Pyrethrum, rosemary and shoo-fly, were all selling extremely well.
‘‘The flies don’t like the smell of the foliage. They’ve a pungent smell to the leaves and it keeps them away.’’
He said the fly plague was a hot topic around Taranaki.
‘‘It’s everywhere. We are out in the country too and it’s quite bad and I’ve never noticed it quite this bad before. They are breeding like mad I suppose.’’
Naus said fly strips worked well, despite their unsightly appearance. ‘‘Every dead fly is a good fly.’’ New Plymouth PestAway NZ owner Sandra Charlton said fly numbers were the worst she had ever experienced.
‘‘It’s really frustrating because we have always got on top of the flies but this year they’ve actually got on top of us. They’ve beaten us,’’ Charlton said.
The high temperatures, which were responsible for the population explosion, were also hampering extermination methods as the chemicals were less effective when the mercury topped 30 degrees Celsius. ‘‘We have had to change our application methods to accommodate that.’’
Flies were also becoming resistant to the sprays and chemicals used to control them, she said.
‘‘It seems that the house fly is getting immune to the chemicals. Even the fly spray that you are using, unless you are drowning it with the spray that’s not working either.’’
Charlton said there would be no relief from the winged pests until the temperature dropped.
‘‘Once it starts cooling down the flies will reduce and the chemicals will kick in.’’
But John Leith of Oakura found getting the necessary chemicals was not as simple as it sounded with fly spray supplies at New Plymouth’s Spotswood Countdown cleaned out when he went there at the weekend. Other New Plymouth supermarkets were also experiencing a run on the handheld spray cans.
‘‘I was surprised that they had run out and I think that the lady at the checkout said ‘it’s the first time they had run out’,’’ Leith said.
He said the flies this year were worse than anything he had experienced in the last 25 years.
‘‘It’s terrible, I’ve never known anything like this. It’s like living in Australia.’’
Leith had since resorted to fly paper, which proved effective, catching more than 100 flies within two hours. ‘‘They don’t look very nice, but jeepers they work.’’
A Countdown spokesperson said while there had been a 20 per cent surge in demand for fly, ant repellent and insect sprays this summer there was still limited stock available.
‘‘Although our Taranaki stores are running low on fly spray, we are not out of stock. We have adjusted for the increase in sales and we don’t anticipate a future shortage of fly spray.’’