Flies, generally considered a nuisance by everyone, exist in all regions of the United States. There are more than 240,000 different varieties of flies in the world, and approximately one third of them, including mosquitoes and gnats, can be found in the United States. A true fly has only one set of wings and all flies are known disease carriers, many of which can be transmitted to humans. Flies typically breed in garbage, decaying flesh, excrement of animals and humans, sewers, compost piles, and any other place where matter is decaying. This enables them to pick up various kinds of diseases which can be transmitted to people by biting or by landing on food, where they can add bacteria and viruses to the food. Since flies are able to transmit disease so easily, it is necessary to get insect control quickly if you have a fly problem. The diseases that they can carry include malaria, yellow fever, encephalitis, and dengue fever. All flies have a rapid rate of growth and go from egg to an adult in about seven 7 days. Maggots are just one stage in the early development of a fly and maggots of some fly varieties, such as the Carrot Rust fly, can be a problem because they eat the roots of some vegetables, including carrots and celery. The most common flies are the Fruit fly, the House fly (which have four stripes on their abdomen), the Cluster fly (which is dark gray in color) and the Garbage fly (which has a metallic color that is either green or blue). Another kind of fly, the Stable fly, typically exists around livestock. The Horse fly and a few other varieties of flies actually have mouth parts and can bite people. Most other flies have a sponge-like mouth and can only drink up their food. One benefit of flies is that they do help keep down the population of other pests. They also help to break down carcasses and other decaying matter faster by preparing it to reenter the ground. Properly controlling flies includes not only killing them, but also destroying their eggs and larvae. Call a professional pest control company to manage any fly problems you encounter, preferably before the eggs are laid, since eggs can multiply rapidly and increase the likelihood of disease.