Why the government drops flies on California
There’s a good reason for it. ■ More about the program: https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/plant/PDEP/prpinfo/
Edited by Michelle Martin https://www.youtube.com/@OnTheCrux
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@TomScottGo
October 19, 2026 at 12:04 pm
This week's pinned-comment plug is for my podcast! There are bizarre questions and wonderful answers for free every week at https://lateralcast.com
@robertobryk4989
October 19, 2026 at 12:04 pm
How do they separate pupae by sex?
@JMN3333
October 19, 2026 at 12:04 pm
Mankind has no other problems.
@nightlightabcd
October 19, 2026 at 12:04 pm
This is a California state government project so the tyrant can't shut it down! This has to do with science and we all know how the tyrant hates education and science!
@jamessterling9273
October 19, 2026 at 12:04 pm
I like this
@MCInferno
October 19, 2026 at 12:04 pm
E
@jgrode
October 19, 2026 at 12:04 pm
What do they do with the discarded pupa casings? Compost or something of the sort?
@v0id_d3m0n
October 19, 2026 at 12:04 pm
This is so cool and strange and takes SO MANY FLIES OMG. Actual unbelievable amount. Especially if they're dropping millions every 3-4 days !?
@StarlightSternlicht
October 19, 2026 at 12:04 pm
Biological birth control? No it's Biological warfare and I bet some part of that study is funded by,,,,,,,,,
@Stoobers
October 19, 2026 at 12:04 pm
Really interesting!!!
@RhelrahneTheIdiot
October 19, 2026 at 12:04 pm
Interestingly enough this isn't the only place or species they do this for, the other one they do it for however is arguably substantially more vile. A parasitic, flesh eating fly from California to Florida to Argentina before it was mostly contained past the Panama Canal through the same method used for these ones.
@hudsonrolls
October 19, 2026 at 12:04 pm
more like 271k
@JIMBonn-medic
October 19, 2026 at 12:04 pm
I am a retired UPS package car driver and I used to deliver these flies to a dairy farm on my route. They were to keep the fly populataion at the farm down. They came in a box about 8" square. The process was never explained to me, but the workers there said they helped quite a bit.
@realtalkwithharris6053
October 19, 2026 at 12:04 pm
is this also done a little with mosquitos?
@gingeralice3858
October 19, 2026 at 12:04 pm
If this was 2 years ago, why is the infestation getting worse? I've tried everything to get rid of them for the last 6 months. I know they are in other people's homes too. My dad managed to eliminate them, but only by bleaching every single drain in his house, every single day, TWICE A DAY. When I visit, his place is permeated by the smell of bleach. And if he quits for just one day, the flies come back in full force. I don't know how he makes the time to do it. I've been bleaching my drains once a day, noticed some reduction, but can't eradicate them completely. I don't think those flies are actually sterile. If this worked, after 2 years, I would think we would see improvements, instead there are more flies than I have ever seen in my life.
@ernestmoney7800
October 19, 2026 at 12:04 pm
Presenter needs to calm down. Note contrast with the Program Director – just as informative, but no drama. (0:40)
@MarcusChristianWongJunRong
October 19, 2026 at 12:04 pm
this is just like the Wolbachia project in Singapore with mosquitoes
@the-peacemaker
October 19, 2026 at 12:04 pm
Offshore??? As in in another country just in case an escaped inmate starts an infestation?
@mastercreatorawesome8433
October 19, 2026 at 12:04 pm
Miss you
@macstyle2012
October 19, 2026 at 12:04 pm
Wish they would do this with normal flies to wipe them out – there are thousands where I live. Cannot go in may garden without being covered in flies and bitten. Put the BBQ on and the flies smell it and they are all over the place. Cook in the house and they come in when the doors and windows are open. And it's all year as well, not just in the summer.
@FinlayDaG33k
October 19, 2026 at 12:04 pm
Weird chemtrails but ok.
@ber_cor
October 19, 2026 at 12:04 pm
eww
@sydhenderson6753
October 19, 2026 at 12:04 pm
We do the same thing with screwflies in Panama, for even better reasons, since screwfly larvae are horrible things for cattle and other animals to be infested by. (I assume we have the permission of Panama to do this, since they wouldn't want screwflies either.)