HOW’D YOU DO?

Question 1: Answer A

transmit—ranging from fly-bite allergies, conjunctivitis, and local irritation to life-threatening viral diseases like equine infectious anemia. For the record, however, we can’t blame flies for everything. Other diseases, such as West Nile virus, are transmitted by mosquitoes. Rabies is most commonly passed directly in saliva from a bite.

Question 2: Answer A

Flies go where the food is, so an urban house fly doesn’t have to travel far to find a meal. Plentiful trash that’s close at hand means the typical urban house fly doesn’t travel much farther than 1,000 feet on any given day. But if you move that house fly to the country? He may travel 7 miles—or more—to find a good source of manure. What does that mean for you? Keep manure picked up around your farm, and your flies may decide to move away. Interestingly, if you compost manure properly it’ll actually repel flies because it generates too much heat to make them happy.

Question 3: Answer C

Flies live longer than you may think. The average lifespan is 30 days or more for most fly species. Some, like horseflies, can live for years. The total lifecycle of a fly has four stages: egg, larvae, pupa, and adult. Under ideal conditions, an egg can hatch in as few as eight hours to become a larvae—commonly known as a maggot. Maggots feed on manure, rotting food, and other filth, and must shed their outer layers or “molt” before they pupate (develop fly-like characteristics such as legs and wings). As a general rule, all stages of the fly’s life cycle thrive when temperatures are warm and food is available. They’ll pass through each stage more efficiently, and adults will live longer (meaning they can lay more eggs). That’s why tending to manure and garbage is essential for keeping flies at bay. It also explains why warm spring weather typically marks the beginning of your annual War on Flies.

Question 4: Answer B

A fly’s wings beat as fast as 1,000 times per minute. That’s what creates that buzzing sound you hear. In spite of that, it’s hard to believe that flies don’t move all that fast. In fact, the top flight speed for a typical fly is around 4 to 5 miles per hour (a brisk walking pace). So why are they so hard to kill? They’re incredibly acrobatic. When you’re trying to chase down a fly, outrunning him shouldn’t be a problem. Outsmarting him by predicting the direction he’ll