Mieke
New Member
Ik las dit vandaag in the Age. maar het was me intussen al opgevallen dat het aantal vliegen veel meer was dan een aantal jaren geleden. En real Australians klaagden ook over de vliegen.
Notice the flies? 650 billion flies buzzing Victoria!!!
KEEN observers of Australian tradition at yesterday's Boxing Day Test could not have missed another iconic ritual: The Great Aussie Salute in full flight.
So many patrons were shooing flies from their faces that they almost created their own breeze.
Across the Yarra another visiting Briton was suffering under a blitzkrieg of the pests. "They're driving me absolutely batty," said Londoner Jo Letts, trying to enjoy a picnic on the riverbank with friends Tracy Cosentino and Shane Duffy. "They're everywhere, they're annoying, they're disgusting and they're eating our food," said Tracy. "And I'm eating them," added Jo.
People who are expert in these things say Victoria is suffering something of a plague of muscus domesticus, the common house fly. Two years of hot summers, warm winters and increased soil moisture have resulted in perfect survival and breeding conditions, sparking a fly population boom.
On one estimate, said Bert Candusio, curator of the Insectarium of Victoria at Woodend, there might be as many as 650 billion flies buzzing Victorian skies and dinner plates.
"The past two summers have been particularly favourable for flies and we now have considerably more than we would normally see," he said yesterday.
"There's been two seasons where the weather patterns have nicely suited the domestic house fly. That's the one who gets in the corners of your eyes and your mouth — that pesky little bugger."
Mr Candusio said soil moisture levels higher than normal allowed numbers of fly larvae to hatch, while the milder winter had enabled more adult flies to hibernate.
He said the conditions suited a range of insects, so we have seen swarms of locusts making their way south and, in western Victoria, a plague of lawn scarab beatles.
Fortunately, he said, there was at least one upside. The dry conditions and lack of stagnant puddles meant the population of mosquitoes around Melbourne was not going through a similar boom.
But prepare for a slightly more loathsome pest than muscus domesticus: "I'm starting to see the first blowies," said Mr Candusio. "Blowflies tend to develop later in the year than houseflies so they usually roll up on the scene that little bit later."
Eventually, he said, the balance of nature will swing into play. The same conditions — and an abundance of prey — should see a boom in spiders and other fly predators.
As to what we can do about the fly plague, he has a couple of barely helpful hints: Wear dull colours, because they seem to prefer brighter shades; invest in Aerogard; get a hat with corks; or learn to live with them.
And as long as you practice moderately clean habits, they don't present too much of a health risk. "In fact, researchers are increasingly looking at house flies for their potential antibiotic properties. You never see a fly get an infection.
"And anyway, you've got to have them. If we didn't have flies we wouldn't be talking today."
They are nature's body disposal squad, consuming and cleaning up everything that dies around us, he explains.
:dizzy:
Notice the flies? 650 billion flies buzzing Victoria!!!
KEEN observers of Australian tradition at yesterday's Boxing Day Test could not have missed another iconic ritual: The Great Aussie Salute in full flight.
So many patrons were shooing flies from their faces that they almost created their own breeze.
Across the Yarra another visiting Briton was suffering under a blitzkrieg of the pests. "They're driving me absolutely batty," said Londoner Jo Letts, trying to enjoy a picnic on the riverbank with friends Tracy Cosentino and Shane Duffy. "They're everywhere, they're annoying, they're disgusting and they're eating our food," said Tracy. "And I'm eating them," added Jo.
People who are expert in these things say Victoria is suffering something of a plague of muscus domesticus, the common house fly. Two years of hot summers, warm winters and increased soil moisture have resulted in perfect survival and breeding conditions, sparking a fly population boom.
On one estimate, said Bert Candusio, curator of the Insectarium of Victoria at Woodend, there might be as many as 650 billion flies buzzing Victorian skies and dinner plates.
"The past two summers have been particularly favourable for flies and we now have considerably more than we would normally see," he said yesterday.
"There's been two seasons where the weather patterns have nicely suited the domestic house fly. That's the one who gets in the corners of your eyes and your mouth — that pesky little bugger."
Mr Candusio said soil moisture levels higher than normal allowed numbers of fly larvae to hatch, while the milder winter had enabled more adult flies to hibernate.
He said the conditions suited a range of insects, so we have seen swarms of locusts making their way south and, in western Victoria, a plague of lawn scarab beatles.
Fortunately, he said, there was at least one upside. The dry conditions and lack of stagnant puddles meant the population of mosquitoes around Melbourne was not going through a similar boom.
But prepare for a slightly more loathsome pest than muscus domesticus: "I'm starting to see the first blowies," said Mr Candusio. "Blowflies tend to develop later in the year than houseflies so they usually roll up on the scene that little bit later."
Eventually, he said, the balance of nature will swing into play. The same conditions — and an abundance of prey — should see a boom in spiders and other fly predators.
As to what we can do about the fly plague, he has a couple of barely helpful hints: Wear dull colours, because they seem to prefer brighter shades; invest in Aerogard; get a hat with corks; or learn to live with them.
And as long as you practice moderately clean habits, they don't present too much of a health risk. "In fact, researchers are increasingly looking at house flies for their potential antibiotic properties. You never see a fly get an infection.
"And anyway, you've got to have them. If we didn't have flies we wouldn't be talking today."
They are nature's body disposal squad, consuming and cleaning up everything that dies around us, he explains.
:dizzy:
