Maine: Beware of Black Flies This Year, They’ve Become More Dangerous Than You’d Think

Black flies are everywhere, right? Sure. However, in New England (more specifically in Massachusetts and coming up the coast to Maine), there's more of a danger in what they carry due to their high volume here. Of course, Maine is one of the most 'outdoorsy' states you can live in, so lots of us are fighting off these annoying little dudes in the summertime.

When is black fly season in Maine?

According to Quora.com,

"Here in southern Maine (Portland suburbs) black fly season usually goes from early May until mid June or so. Then the mosquitoes take over. Especially during the height of the season, black flies can swarm all over you and be a real aggravation".

Why are black flies dangerous?

Well, much like a mosquito (not that I'm a scientist), they can carry really nasty things, especially because we spot flies the most swarming around piles of... you know what.

As Cheapism describes,

"Each time a synanthropic fly (the nonbiting type) feeds on something — whether that's a sandwich, roadkill, or animal feces — it fills its "crop." "The crop is like a gas tank,” says John Stoffolano, an entomology professor at UMass Amherst, “a place to store food before it makes its way into the digestive tract where it will get turned into energy for the fly.” Because the crop is meant for storage and not digestion, these flies need to empty it by a bubbling regurgitation, colloquially, vomit."

All I can think about right now is how over the summertime I like to eat at one of our light houses, beaches, or even just outside on my porch. I've also thought of the amount of times I've shoo'd a fly away without thinking. Gross. Here's my personal PSA to you this summer: think twice before taking another bite of that sandwich an annoying black fly landed on for a second.