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Yellow Flies/ Horse Flies/ Deer Flies

Horse flies and deer flies are bloodsucking insects that can be serious pests of cattle, horses, and humans. Female horse flies and deer flies are active during the day. Deer flies are usually active for specific periods of time during the summer. When outside, repellents such as Deet and Off (N-diethyl-meta-toluamide) can provide several hours of protection. Follow label instructions carefully because some people can develop allergies with repeated use, look for age restrictions. 

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Horse flies commonly known as yellow flies can be a real annoyance and some people can have fairly extreme allergic reactions. The months of June and July seem to be the time of the year when they are most prevalent. Each residence within our district may request one. The ball is a beach ball that either was ordered black or has been painted black. We then apply a clear layer of a glue like substance and hang it form a tree on the property. The yellow flies are attracted to the moving dark colored sillohuette.

Sand Fly is the common name applied to a minute, biting fly. Sand flies are important as vectors of numerous human diseases, including kala-azar or dumdum fever, oriental sore, and sand-fly fever. Six species are found in the United States, none of which are known to carry disease.

Scientific classification: Sand flies belong to the family Psychodidae, of the order Diptera. They are classified in the genera Culicoides and Phlebotomus. The species that transmits sand-fly fever is classified as Phlebotomus papatasii.

Here are some tips for armoring yourself yellow flies.

In Florida, the name “yellow fly” is used to describe about a dozen different species of yellow-bodied biting flies. “Yellow flies” readily attack humans and are usually abundant in Florida with peak annoyance occurring in May and June. “Yellow flies” are in the family known as Tabanidae. All tabanids go through an egg, larva, pupa and adult stage, referred to as “complete metamorphosis,” the same development process that mosquitoes go through. Tabanids lay egg masses containing 50 to several hundred eggs. Most species deposit their eggs around ponds, streams or swamps on overhanging vegetation such as grasses or cattails.

Yellow flies congregate in shaded, humid areas on the edges of forests, rivers and creeks, avoiding large, open, sunny areas. Some species are active in the early morning while other species are more active in the late afternoon. Depending upon conditions such as heavy tree canopy, cloudy days or when an animal is moving through an area, yellow flies can become active and bothersome throughout the day. “Yellow flies” prefer to attack man about the head, neck or shoulders, however, any exposed part of the body may be attacked.

Their persistence to obtain a bloodmeal, once a host is found, can make 5 or 6 flies unbearable. Sometimes the use of the old-fashioned fly swatter will give relief by taking out the few flies in an area.