The Cat Fly
The population of house flies is on the rise. That news wouldn’t mean much in most cases. What if the flies where the size of cats, that would be cause for some alarm. It has been discovered that the normal house fly has mutated and now can grow to an enormous size. Governments were not prepared for this and these insects have caused hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage in the short period of time they have existed.
Scientists from the National insect museum have stated they aren’t sure how this mutation has happened. Currently all they know is that the gene that mutated controlled their size. “These flies are growing to over a foot in length and back to their size from the dinosaur days.” Said Doctor Ben Fly. Doctor Fly has also noted that that the appetite in these insects is ferocious. They can consume 10 times their body weight an hour. This could be a problem, but until more research can be conducted no one can really predict their affect on the rest of the ecosystem. One effect has been the rapid decrease of road kill. The flies are eating the entire carcass of these animals in just minutes. This has had a positive effect on our roads.
These flies aren’t harmless however. They are now the new leading cause for heart attacks and window damage in the country. It has been recommended to cover your windows with bars to prevent these flies from crashing through. A spokesman from We Kill Bugs has stated they haven’t been able to kill one with normal insecticides and have begun developing new forms of insect control for them. They are currently developing a laser turret that it able to track and shoot them down. These turrets are to be placed on top of homes and other building to take the bugs out of the sky. They have also developed a new fly paper trap. These mats can be placed just about anywhere. They have the strength to prevent a large deer from escaping it. There has been a development with using Mustard gas on the insects. So far it has been the only chemical to be able to affect these insects.
There has also been a rapid increase in the disappearance of small house pets. The flies are able to just simply carry of the small pets that where outside. Also, hospitals around the country have seen an increase in patients who come in with injuries from collisions with these giant insects. Patient injuries have included broken ribs, concussions, and even some internal bleeding. Since the initial discovery people have learned to watch for and stay out of the way of these bugs, but it hasn’t helped much.
Scientists are unsure of the effect the population boom will have on our ecosystem. The bugs have been found all over the world and population has increased from a few thousand to an estimated 100 million in just a few short months. This has sparked a few new sports as well such as fly hunting. Scientists and insect control specialists have been taking donations for dead insects and paying quite well for live ones. Low caliber rifles do have a great effect on the bugs. Most of the live insects are caught using bear traps or the newly created fly paper.
While these flies can be hazard at least for now you can take a few simple precautions to keep you and family safe. Scientists continue to conduct their research and all we can do is hope for a break through to help us escape the destruction of these insects.