Facts about Housefly
The common housefly is a perfect host for many types of bacteria. They are proven carriers of such germs as gangrene, Typhoid, leprosy, tuberculosis, amoebic dysentery, bubonic plague, and listeria, just to name a few. The common housefly has no mouth. Instead, it has an eating tube through which it vomits a drop of fluid from its stomach and deposits it on its intended meal. This fluid is then sucked up along with the nutrients it has dissolved, leaving behind untold numbers of germs. A fly may travel as far as thirteen miles from its birthplace. The common housefly has a maximum flying speed of five miles per hour, though its wings beat 20 thousand times per minute. The fly has four thousand separate lenses in each eye – eight thousand in all – providing wide angle vision which is in fact omnidirectional. The female fly may lay as many as 21 batches of offspring, each containing up to 130 eggs. The larvae [maggots] normally hatch in about two days. Larvae feed on surrounding waste… and grow and shed their skin twice before entering the pupae stage. The larvae-pupae stage lasts from one to two weeks. The adult fly emerges from the pupae stage full grown. The adult fly has a normal life of about thirty (30) days during warm weather although flies live as long as five months. During cold weather the larvae-pupae stage may last for weeks or even months, with the adult fly emerging in warm weather. In the summer reproduction months (April to September), the descendents of one pair of flies, if all lived and reproduced normally, would number 191,000,000,000,000,000,000. enough to cover the entire land area of the world to a depth of 18 feet. The average size of a housefly is 0.25". Houseflies usually stay near their breeding places but records show they can travel up to 28 miles carried by wind currents. These flies can move 4-6 miles within 24 hours. Flies prefer to rest on corners and edges of thin objects such as wire and strings. At night they usually rest near their food sources, 5-15 ft. off the ground. Under warm conditions these flies can reproduce rapidly because of their short developmental time of 7 to 12 days and the number of eggs produced by the female. House flies do not damage your property, but they can be a nuisance when they invade your home. House flies cannot bite, but they do transport disease to humans and animals. Because these insects feed on animal wastes, garbage, and human foods, they are easy carriers of bacteria and disease. They are known to carry and spread viruses that cause conditions such as diarrhea, cholera, dysentery, food poisoning, and eye infections. They have sponging mouthparts for feeding. In order to feed on a piece of food, the fly must first regurgitate some saliva on the food to soften it. The food is transformed into a liquid and sponged up. Their eggs are white, elongate and about 1/20" long. The larva is also referred to as a maggot. When it first emerges from the egg it is transparent. As it grows it assumes a creamy white color. Maggots have no legs and are somewhat carrot shaped. Two small openings used for breathing are located at the hind end. They're about 2/5" long. The pupa are reddish-brown in color. They are barrel-shaped and about 3/8" long. Pupal cases are sometimes mistaken for American cockroach egg capsules. About life cycles of housefiles. |
SEARCH
Sponsors
|