RI, MA EHS Pest Control Blog

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The correct terminology is larva or larvae. For all intents & purposes they are MAGGOTS! I happen to snap this picture of something that happens in every city & town and that is flies. What you are looking at is about 2,000 maggots in some stagnant water in a garbage can cover. In about 5-7 days these 2,000 maggots will be 2,000 flies. Those flies will continue to reproduce in alarming volumes and at a very fast pace. In fact that 2,000 flies if uncontrolled & they survive can easily be 100,000 in just 30 days!!!

Most people see a roach or rodent in a restaurant, their business, or their home and they freak out and need something done immediately. It is the fly that should cause this type of reaction in people yet all we do is swat at them & do not give them a 2nd thought. We even joke about them….

Waiter, there is a fly in my soup!
What’s he doing?
I believe it is the backstroke.

Flies are one of the most disgusting insects on the planet and they are capable of transmitting so many diseases through the bacteria they contact. Next time you see a fly take it VERY seriously!

Location = Norwood, MA

Just sitting at my desk doing a 101 things on another day in the crazy world of pest control. It’s time for a little snackeroony so I hit my disturbing addicting bowl of pistachio nuts so I can get by until lunch. Me personally, I can never understand why people go for the red dyed pistachio nuts. It takes like 3-4 days to get that red crap off your fingers & lips!

THANKFULLY I took a look before I ate this one nut. There’s a damn maggot in my pistachio nut!!!! It’s not like these things are years old, I just bought them. Needless to say they got tossed in the garbage. It had me thinking about pests and food…….

Did you know that The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) calls insects & rodent hairs "natural contaminants" and they are indeed allowed to be present in your food. Here are the FDA permissible levels but it varies by food groups:

• Average is 225 or more insect fragments per 225 grams
• Average is 4.5 or more rodent hairs per 200 grams
• 5 or more fly eggs per 250 ml
• 1 or more maggots per 250 ml
• 1 or more rodent excreta pellets (poop!) per tested sample