Researchers hope to use an agricultural pest’s genetic code against it to prevent billions of dollars in annual farm losses in the United States.

Stable flies, or Stomoxys calcitrans, are spotted, tan-colored flies found around the world. They are easily mistaken for the common housefly but for one notable distinction: They bite.

«If you get one in your house and it bites you, it’s a stable fly,» said Joshua Benoit, an assistant professor of biology at the University of Cincinnati.

Stable flies don’t bite so much as chomp. They are the scourge of beachgoers in Florida and recreational boaters in upstate New York. According to Thomas Jefferson, they tormented signatories of the Declaration of Independence.

«You shoo it away and shoo it away but it’s persistent and lands on you. And then it bites. And it’s not a pleasant bite. It’s a pretty vicious, painful bite,» Benoit said.

UC joined an international team that unlocked the genome of stable flies. Benoit and his students contributed to a fundamental research project called i5k that has the ambitious goal to sequence the genes of 5,000 species of arthropods, the group that includes spiders, insects and crabs.

Story Source:
Materials provided by University of Cincinnati. Original written by Michael Miller. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.