Oct 22, 2009, 14:53 PM by User Not Found

The adults are 8-12 mm long Their thorax is gray with four longitudinal dark lines on the back The underside of their abdomen is yellow citation

Although the housefly is a very common pest, few actually touch on the subject. I decided to fill our viewers in and educate you about the nuisance pest that drives us nuts.

Adults flies are between 8-12 mm long, their thoraxis gray in color with four dark lines on the back and their whole body is covered with hair-like projections. The female fly is slightly larger than males, and have a much larger space between their between their compound eyes. The housefly has one pair of wings; the hind pair is reduced to small halteres that help with flight stability. There are a few species that are similar in looks to the housefly include:

▪               The stable fly, Stomoxys calcitrans, has piercing mouth parts.

Females can lay up to 500 eggs in several batches of about 75 to 15. The eggs are white and area bout 1.2 mm in length. Within a day, larvae (maggots) hatch from the eggs; they live and feed on organic materials, such as garbage or feces.

They are pale-whitish, 3-9 mm long, thinner at the mouth end, and have nolegs. They live at least one week. At the end of their third instar,the maggots crawl to a dry cool place and transform into pupae, colored reddish or brown and about 8 mm long. The adult flies then emerge from the pupae. (This whole cycle is known as complete metamorphosis.)The adults live from two weeks to a month in the wild, or longer in benignlaboratory conditions. After having emerged from the pupae, the flies cease to grow; small flies are not young flies, but are indeed the result of getting insufficient food during the larval stage.

The Houseflies Diet

Even though the order of flies (Diptera) is much older, true houseflies are believed to have evolved in the beginning of the Cenozoic era, some 65million years ago.  The Housefly feedson liquid or semi-liquid substances beside solid materials which has been  softened by saliva or vomit. Because of their high intake of food, they deposit feces constantly, one of the factors that makes the insect a dangerous carrier  of pathogens. Although they are domestic flies, usually confined to the human  habitations, they can fly for several miles from the breeding place. They are active only in daytime and rest at night e.g. at the corners of rooms, ceiling hangings, etc.