ABSTRACT
This chapter presents information on the medical importance, geographic distribution, and biological aspects of flies, such as filth flies, eye gnats, and nonbiting midges. It provides recommended procedures for treatment of these flies bite. Members of the fly family Chloropidae are variously known as eye gnats, grass flies, eye flies, and fruit flies. Eye gnats are common in agricultural areas, meadows, and other places where there is considerable grass. Because eye gnats do not actually bite, treatment involves only the incidental diseases transmitted. Filth flies are best controlled by a combination of good sanitation, mechanical exclusion, ultraviolet light traps, and chemical control. Good sanitation includes emptying and steam-cleaning dumpsters on a regular schedule and otherwise eliminating breeding sites. Nonbiting midges (Chironomidae) are often confused with mosquitoes, but they are innocuous insects except during times when they are unusually abundant. Numerous species of chironomids occur worldwide.
