Facts, Identification & Control
Musca Domestica
Appearance
Usually gray, less than 4 to 7.5 mm long with four black stripes on the thorax.
Behavior, Diet & Habits
They prefer corners and edges or thin objects to rest on. Indoors, they rest on floors, walls and ceilings during the day. Outdoors, they will rest on plants, the ground, fence wires, garbage cans, etc. Night resting places are usually near sources of food and 5 to 15 feet off the ground.
Wide variety of food, including human food, animal food and carcasses, garbage and excrement.
Reproduction
House fly eggs are laid in almost any warm, moist material that will supply suitable food for the larvae. The female may lay a total of five to six batches of 75 to 100 eggs. In warm weather, eggs hatch in 12 to 24 hours.
Signs of a House Fly Infestation
The adult flies are the most common sign of activity. Larvae also may be seen as they crawl out the breeding material to pupate. Lastly, the pupae themselves may sometimes be observed nearby the breeding material.
House Fly Facts
The average life span for a house fly in the wild is less than one month. Houseflies pass through the egg, larval and pupal stages in approximately 10 days, after which adult flies emerge. House flies cease growth after emerging from their pupae.
House flies are covered with small hairs that serve as taste organs. Their compound eyes are extremely complex: thousands of individual lenses allow them a wide field of vision.
House flies are major carriers of disease. They are known to transfer over 100 pathogens resulting in ailments, including typhoid, tuberculosis, cholera and dysentery. House flies collect these pathogens on their legs and mouths when feeding on feces, trash and other decaying material.
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