Nuisance flies around a landfill: Patterns of abundance and distribution

Authors
Citation
J. Howard, Nuisance flies around a landfill: Patterns of abundance and distribution, WASTE MAN R, 19(4), 2001, pp. 308-313
Citations number
6
Categorie Soggetti
Environment/Ecology,"Environmental Engineering & Energy
Journal title
WASTE MANAGEMENT & RESEARCH
ISSN journal
0734242X → ACNP
Volume
19
Issue
4
Year of publication
2001
Pages
308 - 313
Database
ISI
SICI code
0734-242X(200108)19:4<308:NFAALP>2.0.ZU;2-G
Abstract
Some members of the public living near landfills perceive the sites as a so urce of nuisance flies and their associated diseases. Both these factors co ntribute to frequent complaints to Environmental Health Officers about land fill operations. Fly monitoring using sticky targets was done at a working landfill site in the West Midlands in order to identify the key species of flies present at the site, and to establish whether these flies were simila r to those occurring in the surrounding area. Targets were positioned in co ncentric rings, radiating away from the working face into the surrounding r esidential area. The abundance of the flies, both in and around the landfil l site was monitored over a 6-week period commencing 16 August 1999. The key families of flies present on targets on the landfill site were Musc idae, principally Musca domestica L. (common housefly), Calliphoridae, (pri marily 'blue' and 'green' bottles), and Sarcophagidae (flesh flies). In con trast, the families of flies found on targets immediately outside the worki ng landfill site and in the nearby surrounding area, were largely vegetatio n-feeding or parasitic flies, together with other non-fly insects. The over , all abundance of all flies increased significantly during the monitoring period.