Yellow Flies
Yellow flies are back this summer with a vengeance. For Southport resident Charles Jones he has never seen it quite as bad as this.
“Is this the worst?”
“Oh yea,” said Jones. “This is the worst I’ve ever seen it right here.”
Creeping, crawling, and biting. This isn’t your ordinary fly.
“You’ve got three months,” said Jones. “May, June, and July that the yellow flies are bad here, but like I said this is the worst I’ve ever seen it.”
Jones has spent a lot of time making homemade traps for the pests. It’s a simple remedy. Just take a beach ball of any diameter and spray black gloss spray paint on it’s outside. Then paste with sticky adhesive or tangle-foot, which can be found online or in a hardware store.
Jones says the only things that keep the bugs away, is Deep Woods OFF.
“Yea, with the balls and the OFF that’s about all you can do,” said Jones.
The problem has kept the family from enjoying their summer outdoors.
Out at Beach Mosquito Control District they say the bite can be brutal.
“Its the saliva that you’re allergic to and some people are more allergic than others,” said Cindy Mulla with Beach Mosquito. “You end up having a large swollen area for example if you are bitten on your hands you would not be able to see your knuckles it would be swollen that much.”
Cindy Mulla says the problem stems from damp wetlands where the female insects breed and lay their eggs.
“The reason why the yellow fly bites is the female yellow fly,” said Mulla. “She needs the nutrients and the protein in your blood to develop her eggs so she can develop and lay them successfully.”
As for Jones and his family they want the word to get out so they can have help getting rid of the problem for next year.
“Yea really,” said Jones. “That’s all you can do.”
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YELLOW FLY TRAP
20″ diameter beach ball
Black spray paint (1 can is enough for about 3 balls)
String or twine
Sticky Adhesive (Tanglefoot or Sticky Stuff)
(One quart can covers about 4-5 beach balls)
Mineral Spirits for clean up
Construction:
Inflate the beach ball and attach a 30″ string to the ball tightly. Spray paint the beach ball shiny black. With a paint brush, apply adhesive to the ball at a depth of 1/8 inch. Thoroughly coat the ball except the very top. Do not put too much adhesive on the ball as it may drip when in direct sun. Clean up with mineral spirits.
Hang the prepared beach balls at eye level around the perimeter of yard or area where they seem to be most prevalent.
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Beach Mosquito Control has put together a remedy for the bites.
Yellow Fly Bite Application
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/3 cup Ammonia or Windex
1/3 teaspoon Papain (meat tenderizer)
1 crushed Aspirin
Mix ingredients thoroughly. Clean bite area and dry.
Briskly apply with cotton ball.
