Original Article

Evaluation of Housefly Infestation Management at Waste Processing and Disposal Centers

Abstract

Background: More than half of the global population resides in urban areas. Urban waste, landfills and leachate provide abundant food and habitat for houseflies. Various control methods are employed for pest management. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of an integrated pest management approach for controlling houseflies at a large-scale waste-processing and disposal facility.
Methods: This study was conducted from May to October 2022 at Iran's largest waste processing and disposal facility. Sticky traps were used to monitor infestation levels before and after each intervention. Chemical interventions included a cypermethrin-chlorpyrifos combination in processing halls; a cypermethrin-chlorpyrifos-diflubenzuron mixture in the compost area; and Ajita poison bait in office buildings. Physical controls included installing nets and air curtains, using large adhesive banners, and environmental sanitation measures like washing halls and managing compost.
Results: The dominant fly species was Musca domestica. For monitoring, sticky traps were the most efficient (49% of captured flies), while pheromone traps were the least efficient (4%). The highest infestation intensity occurred before interventions in April-May, averaging 191 flies per 10 traps. The lowest intensity was observed in September-October, with an average of 6 flies per 10 traps. Significant reductions were observed in fly numbers when comparing the peak infestation period (April-May) with subsequent months, indicating the effectiveness of the interventions.
Conclusion: An integrated pest management approach can significantly reduce the severity of housefly infestations in municipal waste facilities. This strategy is crucial for preventing the development of insecticide resistance and minimizing negative environmental impacts.

1. Ritchie H, Samborska V, Roser M (2024) Urbanization. Our world in data [Inter-net]. Available at: https://ourworldindata.org/urbanization
2. Vlahov D, Galea S (2002) Urbanization, urbanicity and health. J Urban Health. 79(Suppl 1): S1-S12.
3. Courtney GW, Pape T, Skevington JH, Sin-clair BJ (2017) Biodiversity of dip¬tera. Insect Biodivers Sci Soc. 1: 229–278.
4. Norris RH, Baker OS, Burgess IV ER, Tarone A, Gerry A, Fryxell RTT, Hinkle NC, Olds C, Boxler D, Wise KL, Machtinger ET (2023) Selection for and characteri¬za¬tion of, fluralaner resistance in the house fly, Musca domestica. Pestic Bio¬chem Physiol. 191: 105355.
5. Greenberg B (2019) Handbook of Flies and disease: II. Biology and disease trans-mis¬sion. In Flies and Disease. Princeton Uni¬versity Press.
6. Akbari M, Rafinejad J, Hanafi-Bojd AA, Aivazi AA, Biglarian A, Sheikhi S, Shava¬li Z, Akbarzadeh K (2020) Human myia¬sis survey in Ilam Province, Southwest of Iran. Nusantara Biosci. 12(2): 143–147.
7. Geden CJ, Nayduch D, Scott JG, Burgess IV ER, Gerry AC, Kaufman PE, Thomson J, Pickens V, Machtinger ET (2021) House fly (Diptera: Muscidae): biology, pest sta¬tus, current management pro¬spects and re¬search needs. J Integr Pest Manag. 12(1): 39–77.
8. Feng J, Ma Y, Chen Z, Liu Q, Yang, Gao Y, Chen W, Qian K, Yang W (2021) De¬velopment and characterization of pyriproxyfen-loaded nanoemulsion for housefly control: improving activity, re-ducing toxicity and protecting ecologi¬cal environment. ACS Sustain Chem Eng. 9(14): 4988–4999.
9. Cavalheiro CD S, Morales DF, Madeira B, Rodrigues GD, Ribeiro PB, Krüger RF (2024) Controlling house fly popula¬tions under laboratory conditions: Hy¬drotaea aenescens larvae as effective preda¬tors. J Appl Entomol. 148(7): 772–779.
10. Hinkle NC, Hogsette JA (2021) A review of alternative controls for house flies. In-sects. 12(11): 1042–1060.
11. Gholamalifard M, Phillips J, Ghazizade MJ (2017) Evaluation of unmitigated op¬tions for municipal waste disposal site in Teh¬ran, Iran using an integrated assess¬ment approach. J Environ Plan Manag. 60(5): 792–820.
12. Dodge HR (1953) Identifying common flies. Public Health Rep. 68(3): 345.
13. Boase CLI VE (2017) Houseflies: regula-tions and unintended consequences. The Ninth International Conference on Ur-ban Pests, 2017. pp. 53–59.
14. Gerry AC (2020) Review of methods to monitor house fly (Musca domestica) abun¬dance and activity. J Econ Ento-mol. 113 (6): 2571–2580.
15. Abbas MN, Sajeel M, Kausar S (2013) House fly (Musca domestica), a chal-leng¬ing pest; biology, management and con¬trol strate¬gies. Elixir Entomol. 64: 19333–19338.
16. Bino Sundar ST, Harikrishnan TJ, Bhaska-ran RL, SarathChandra G, Senthil Ku-mar TMA (2025) Comparison of different pher¬omone dispensers in lur¬ing Musca do¬mestica towards delta trap. Indian J Vet Animal Sci Res. 48(3): 22–27.
17. Goulson D, Hughes WO, Chapman JW (1999) Fly populations associated with landfill and composting sites used for household refuse disposal. Bulletin of En¬tomological Research. 89(6): 493–498.
18. Malik A, Singh N, Satya S (2007) House fly (Musca domestica): a review of con-trol strategies for a challenging pest. J Environ Sci Health Part B. 42(4): 453–469.
19. Hubbard CB, Gerry AC (2021) Genetic evaluation and characterization of be-hav¬ioral resistance to imidacloprid in the house fly. Pestic Biochem Phys¬iol. 171: 104741.
Files
IssueVol 19 No 4 (2025) QRcode
SectionOriginal Article
DOI https://doi.org/10.18502/jad.v19i4.21212
Keywords
Housefly Physical control Chemical methods Integrated pest management (IPM) Disposal centers
Rights and permissions
Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
How to Cite
1.
Rahimy S, Vatandoost H, Baniardalani M, Izadian A, Seyedi Marghaki F, Tashakori G, Rafinejad J. Evaluation of Housefly Infestation Management at Waste Processing and Disposal Centers. J Arthropod Borne Dis. 2026;19(4):343–350.