Irish expat's horror about Aussie pest: 'Nobody told me'

It's no secret Australia is home to a long list of pesky creatures and travellers are frequently warned, often to an excessive degree, of how fearsome the wildlife is here. But one Irish woman says was never told about the worst of it, with her biggest nuisance not once mentioned ahead of her migration to Western Australia.

In footage shared online as a warning to others, the woman can be seen standing in hi-vis work gear attempting to talk to the camera but stopping every few words to swat or blow away the swarm of flies landing on her face.

"I was well warned about sharks, I was well warned about spiders, I was well warned about crocodiles," the Irish woman said. "But nobody told me the flies take drugs, steroids, I don't know some kind of narcotic substance [here]... send help," she complained.

While most Aussies understand the plight, it's an annoyance that is only going to get worse thanks to climate change, according to entomologists.

Recent weather created 'perfect storm' for flies

A spell of warm weather in the state, which is set to continue well into winter, has allowed fly populations to flourish for much longer than usual. And with more flies comes an increased rate in reproduction and the population continues to grow.

"It's been warmer in the state in recent months which encourages fly activity to increase," entomologist Bryan Lessard told Yahoo News. "There's been more rain this season as well and that triggers the fly to hatch from the cocoon, so it's kind of the perfect storm of heat and wet weather to trigger the abundance."

Lessard explained the rise in global temperatures will undoubtedly impact fly populations too, warning residents all across Australia to ready themselves, saying the relentless treatment the Irish woman experienced could possibly become the new norm in years to come.

"With climate change our insect populations will also change, so if there's a lot more warmer weather and a lot more wetter weather, we'll probably see more insects," he said.

The reason why flies target 'eyes, nose, ears, mouth'

A gripe people often have about flies is they seem to target specific parts of the face, with the Irish woman mentioning this in her viral complaint.

"They go directly to your eyes, or your nose, or your ears, or you mouth," she said. Lessard confirmed this is typically the case – and the flies do it for good reason.

"It's so hot flies are looking for something to quench their thirst and unfortunately our tears, sweat and saliva are quite hydrating."

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• Aussies lose it over explosion of 'annoying' pest during warm weather

Flies may have played a part in Aussie accent

It's likely the flies in the video are from a bush fly population, which are native and found across the country. And despite being small and pesky, there is "anecdotal" evidence they had a role to play in the Aussie accent.

"The bush fly apparently influenced the Australian English accent because a lot of settlers when they moved here couldn't open their mouths too wide because flyers were getting inside, Lessard explained to Yahoo.

"So the story goes that over time, we spoke English not enunciating very much."

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