Houseflies
- Flies are often abundant and are found in almost all terrestrial habitats in the world apart from Antarctica. They include many familiar insects such as the housefly, the blow fly, the mosquito, the gnat, the black fly, the midge, and the fruit fly.
- As its name suggests, the housefly is found most commonly in houses. Adults are gray to black, with four dark, longitudinal lines on the thorax, slightly hairy bodies, a single pair of membranous wings, and red eyes.
- More than 150,000 have been formally described and the actual species diversity is much greater, with the species from many parts of the world yet to be studied intensively.
- Females lay numbers of eggs in suitable larval food sources such as decomposing food in garbage, animal excrement or other decomposing organic materials. Eggs hatch within a day into small maggots.
- Development from egg to adult can be completed in about 8 days under optimal conditions, and 12 generations can occur each summer. Adults normally live up to 25 days but may overwinter.
- Larvae infest soils high in organic matter and injure seeds and seedlings, particularly during cool, wet spring growing conditions.
- Methods of control include physical and air barriers to prevent houseflies from entering buildings, elimination of potential breeding sites, fly-killing devices, and insecticides.
- A recent analysis of crop species found that flies visited 72% of the 105 crops studied (bees visited 93%). In some cases, they can provide more consistent pollination in early spring than bees, likely because they are often active at cooler temperatures.
- Species such as the beefly and hoverfly, among others, are pollinators of crop plants.
References
“Feeding the Flower Flies: How to Attract Flies to Your Garden.” Psu.edu, 2013, extension.psu.edu/feeding-the-flower-flies-how-to-attract-flies-to-your-garden#:~:text=When%20asked%20to%20describe%20insect. Accessed 14 Oct. 2022.
Housefly. (2022, September 29). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Housefly
“Controlling Houseflies: Flies, Insects, Pests, Diseases, Home.” Texashelp.tamu.edu, texashelp.tamu.edu/browse/by-type/agriculture-disasters/insects/houseflies/. Accessed 13 Oct. 2022.
“House Fly.” Texasinsects.tamu.edu, texasinsects.tamu.edu/house-fly/. Accessed 13 Oct. 2022.
