Muscidae+(House+Flies)

Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda (Arthropods) Class: Insecta (Insects) Order: Diptera (Flies) Superfamily: Muscoidea Family: Muscidae (House flies)

Just a few things to think about the next time a house fly lands on your pizza:

1. The house fly spits saliva and vomits its stomach contents onto a crusty-but-tasty surface before it begins to eat. This softens the surface so that the fly's spongy mouthparts (mostly labella at the end of the lower lip, or labium) can lap up the dissolving food particles.

2. Flies usually begin their lives as maggots festering away in feces, carrion, or other rotting material. In warm weather, the maggots will emerge from the egg within 8 to 20 hours of it being laid. The maggots are actually the larval stage of the house fly. It is 3-12 mm long, whitish, and cylindrical but tapering toward the head. Larvae complete their development between day 4 and day 30, depending on the temperature, with warmer temperatures encouraging faster development. Full-grown maggots can crawl up to 50 feet. The pupal stage takes place in a pupal case, which darken as the pupa ages. 2 to 27 days later (again, depending on ambient temperature), the full-grown fly emerges. While a few are pest species, most adult Muscidae feed on pollen, decaying material, or other insects. They will die within three days without food. To distinguish a female house fly from a male, look for a large gap between the eyes. The eyes of a male house fly nearly touch.

3. While house flies do not bite, they provide excellent transportation for pathogens. Flies land on sweat, garbage, feces, and other filth, and contaminate otherwise clean surfaces, such as food items, by landing on them. In many cases, pathogens reside within the fly and are transmitted when the fly salivates or regurgitates. //Salmonella// and //Chlamydia// are two diseases (of many) transmitted by house flies. The most serious problems occur when poultry production facilities, which often have tremendous fly populations, are located near cities.

Sources:

Iowa State University. (2004, Sept. 21). //Family muscidae//. Retrieved from http://bugguide.net/node/view/7266

Marshall, Stephen A. 2006. //Insects: their natural history and diversity//. Ontario: Firefly Books.

University of Florida. (1998, August). //House fly: Musca domestica//. Retrieved from http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/urban/flies/house_fly.HTM

K. Finan