Flies

HOUSE FLY

SCIENTIFIC NAME:                Musca domestica

CLASS/ORDER/FAMILY:         Insecta / Diptera / Muscidae

​METAMORPHOSIS:                Simple

INTRODUCTION

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The house fly is one of the most familiar of all insects and is cosmopolitan in distribution.

RECOGNITION

• Adults about 1/6 – 1/4" (4-7.5 mm) long, with the female usually larger than the male.

• Colour uniform and shining, typically brownish black but varies from dark mahogany to black.

• The size of both sexes depends on availability of food in larval stage.

• The thorax bears four narrow blacks stripes.

• The sexes can be notably distinguished through the space between the eyes; spaces between females’ eyes are twice as broad.

LIFECYCLE

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• Females lay batches of about 100 eggs on decaying organic matter such as food waste, carrion, or faeces.

• These soon hatch into legless white larvae (maggots). After 2 to 5 days of development, these metamorphose into reddish-brown pupae, before their final stage of adult flies.

• They normally live for 2 to 4 weeks.

HABITS

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• Fermenting, fresh animal manure is a favourite breeding medium of the house fly. This manure must be less than one day old to be attractive to the egg-laying adult.