These insects are always associated with meat or dead animal material including carrion. Any waste container or compactor must be kept lidded, clean and emptied on a regular basis.

These flies are fond of sunning themselves on window ledges or on warm exposed surfaces in the summer.

Any meat products and especially game and bacon products. Flesh Flies prefer dead & decaying animal matter and carrion. Green Bottles will lay their eggs in decaying matter but also in sheep fleeces especially around the tail if it is soiled, it will open up wounds in animals.

Human cadavers sometimes infested in premises where a body has laid undiscovered for a period of time, they are sometimes reported in morgues also. Flesh flies are attracted to dead pigeons, rodents, road kill victims etc. Blue bottles are often seen in butchers and wet fish shops on produce.

Blue Bottles and Green Bottles flies mate and egg laying commences 4 days later, up to 600 eggs laid in clusters in fresh or older meat, meat products and offal. These eggs hatch out 18-48 hours at 18-20°C game is singled out. They feed for 8-11 days and the larvae moult 3 times, larvae grow to 18mm.They wander off to pupate anything up to 100 metres away preferably in soil and the pupae is approx. 10mm and a dull mahogany brown and at 18-20°C the fly emerges 2 weeks later.

The adults live for 35 days. The Grey Flesh Fly does not lay eggs but deposits the first stage larvae in the preferred food material, usually in a bin or compactor waste areas. The life cycle is rapid taking only 13-25 days to complete.

Screen windows or keep them shut and screen doors with curtains or flyscreens.

Ultra Violet Flykillers will attract this species and they should be sited in areas near doorways where a barrier might break down. Where flies are found inside a building not associated with the meat trade look for a source of the flies, e.g. a dead bird or rodent trapped somewhere and which is attracting them for breeding. Once the body has been removed treat the immediate area with a residual insecticide.

Insecticidal treatment can be made to areas around bins and compactors and any alighting area.