Unlike many other species of flies, drain flies are not going to bite or sting you at all. This is already great news because for flies, these are usually the main ways to transmit diseases. If there is any decaying organic matter or shallow, stale water in your house, it can potentially attract drain flies.
This makes basements, bathrooms and kitchens the ideal breeding ground for them. They usually land on the walls near the drain they came from. Moth flies can barely fly, they rather just jump from place to place.
One of the things that makes them basically harmless is the fact that they won’t bite or sting people or animals. They are just plain annoying and their presence is only a sign that there is a lot of filth in one of your drains at home.
In this article, we are going to prove that drain flies are, in fact, not as dangerous as many other fly species. We are going to explain how drain worms and adult flies can impact your health and how harmful they really are.
Do Drain Flies Bite Humans?
Although drain flies do not bite, it doesn’t mean that you should not get rid of them. They are absolute nuisances, especially if there is a lot of them. Moth flies have no interest in your food either, yet they can accidentally fall in it.
They are not going to bite your cats or dogs either. If you see a moth-like insect with a hair tuft on its head and big patterned wings, then it’s a drain fly that can’t do any harm. At least not by biting, as they can transmit the bacteria they come in contact with.
Compared to all the other fly species that can appear in homes, moth flies are, in fact, relatively harmless. They are busy seeking sewage and different types of organic matters in homes. Jumping from one spot to another, they are going to find the nutrition they need in these wet spots.
So, just to be clear, you can approach drain flies without the risk of them biting you and transmitting any disease. They can be annoying if there is a lot of them but in terms of doing harm, it is completely safe to deal with them.
Are Drain Worms Harmful to Humans?
In case there is a drain in your home that you have left uncleaned for a while, then there might be a problem. That is where drain flies lay a huge number of their eggs. Don’t be surprised if suddenly drain worms start to appear around the drain.
They commonly appear in showers, which is quite an unpleasant experience if you are about to take a shower. They don’t carry anything else on their bodies except the dirt they have collected from the drain. These worms are not shown to carry any diseases nor can they bite you.
What can happen in rare cases is myasis, which means that larvae grow inside the human tissue. This is one of the main reasons why you should get rid ow them as soon as possible. And the most concerning thing about them is that female flies can lay 30 to 100 drain fly eggs at once.
That is going to be a lot of larvae to deal with in a short amount of time. Eventually, the number of adult flies is going to raise to a number that becomes hard to deal with. Drain worms can be helpful in a way because they feed on fungi, bacteria and various microorganisms.
All this stuff can be found in uncleaned drains where there is plenty of time for them to develop. By consuming them, these drain worms can basically unclog drains and make them cleaner. Even if there is nothing to eat, they are going to eat each other so that at least some of them can become adult flies.
Can You Get Sick from Drain Flies?
If drain flies are high in numbers, they can affect people with bronchial asthma and make their condition worse. This is one of the ways moth flies can cause health problems. The other is by landing or falling in your food, spreading bacteria from the filthy places they come from.
Thoroughly cleaning those drains and wet places before the situation gets out of hand can solve the problem. There are plenty of ways one can deal with when it comes to drain flies. If you have had enough of them, it is time to act before they impact your health in any way.
- Related: Are Drain Flies Harmful to Dogs?
- Related: Are Drain Flies Harmful to Cats?
Another thing we know about moth flies is that they can carry pathogens. This is mainly thanks to their breeding behavior, yet they can’t really transmit these pathogens to humans.
Can Drain Flies Infest Humans?
Definitely not all of them. There are certain species of drain fly larvae that can infest humans. Parasitic infestation means that the eggs get in people’s tissue one way or another and hatch there. Their preferred breeding places are all wet and so is the human body itself.
For these species, it is a perfect way to go through the larval state. This state lasts up to 24 days for drain flies, while it takes up to 48 hours for the eggs to hatch. As we mentioned, most species prefer focusing on drains and sewage where they can reproduce and find the nutrition they need.
Thus, they usually don’t come in contact with us, humans at all.
How to Get Rid of Drain Flies
If you want to get rid of drain flies, it can be really difficult. The infestation can’t be solved quickly and you might try many practices.
In this article we collected 10 home remedies to get rid of drain flies and reviewed a 100% bio drain gel what can be used easily. Here is the article: How to Get Rid of Drain Flies