Sciarid flies go through seven stages: egg, four larval stages, pupa, and adult fly. The adults ingest only liquids and live long enough to mate and produce eggs. They die after about five days, with a life cycle from egg to adult in as little as seventeen days. Females may lay several hundred eggs. Eggs hatch in about three days, and the larvae take approximately ten days to develop into pupae, during which they feed on mycelia, pins, and mushroom stems and caps. The adults emerge from the pupae in about four days.

Phorid flies have a short life cycle of 2 to 3 weeks. The adults live for only a few days, during which the females will lay up to 750 eggs that hatch within 24 hours. The larvae will live for one to three weeks, feeding on mycelia. The adults do not feed, only the larvae. The fully developed larvae will move to a drier location and pupate. After pupating, adults will emerge to mate and lay the next generation of phorid flies.

Sciarid and Phorid Flies Treatment Program with Natural and Organic balEnce

At the beginning of a new crop, it may be assumed that the sciarid and/or phorid flies are already in the facility – or will soon be. Begin fogging the area with balEnce immediately to kill the adults in the barn, or that will arrive shortly. These flies have a very short life cycle. They propagate quickly into large numbers in a matter of days. Preventative fogging with balEnce will assist in reducing the fly explosion.

Playing “Catch-up” — If the flies, particularly the larvae, are already in the barn, we need to kill off this “inventory” to get the barn back to a low fly population.

Each 443 ml bottle of balEnce treats approximately 3,700 – 4,600 m². Calculate the area to be treated to determine the amount of balEnce required. Add the balEnce to a sprayer and add water. The amount of water is not critical. It is simply a carrier for the active in balEnce, Beauveria bassiana. balEnce will kill both the adult flies and the fly larvae.