If it feels like you’ve been shoo shoo shoo-ing flies away from your lunch more than usual for this time of year, that’d come down to Sydney's current fly invasion. While we can usually expect mum to be at the ready with the swat come Christmas Day lunch, it feels a wee bit early to be this ticked off by the pesky pests, don’t you think?
According to scientists, the hot start to spring has led to the unwelcome swarms. Evolutionary ecologist at the University of Sydney Thomas White told ABC News that the recent heat waves and record high temperatures have promoted a speedier life cycle for fly species. "It's quite dry, we are in El Niño [...] And because it's so hot and humid, they're there in larger numbers than we might have seen in the last couple of years [when] it's been a bit cooler and a bit wetter."
When the weather cooled down recently, the flies seemed to buzz off, but experts warn that with warmer weather on the way and a dry and hot summer on the cards, we need to learn to live with our flying friends.
Dr White points out that flies are pollinators, nutrient recyclers, they're food for animals like frogs, and essential in our environment.
"So really, people can just swipe them away, move on with the day, and not worry about it too much as best as you can."
Make sure to bin your food scraps properly, bust out the fly swat and warm up your wrist for some heavy-duty swatting.