The appearance of flies is observed from May to September, when the average daily temperature rises above 120 C. Individuals that have emerged from hibernation begin to reproduce after a short period of feeding. At this time, the population of flies increases rapidly and increases constantly throughout the warm season.
In private homes, the appearance of flies is associated with cesspools and compost heaps where flies lay their eggs. Some types of flies are capable of laying eggs in the soil indoor plants. Subsequently, flies develop from them, feeding on plant juices. This gradually leads to the flowers fading.
Individual extermination of flies on your own site is impossible. Possessing wings, these insects are constantly looking for a place to feed and reproduce. Covering long distances, they fly in from neighbors and from the street.
Flies also appear in apartments in early to mid-May. Having settled in a human home, a fly is able to lay eggs in a trash can, on a forgotten piece of meat, cheese, or on sweet foods. Flies are especially attracted to animal excrement and rotting meat. Carefully ensure that there are no such breeding areas for flies in your apartment, constantly put food in sealed containers or put it in the refrigerator.
The development of flies from egg to adult takes 10-15 days, depending on the species. During her life, a female is capable of laying at least 700 eggs. Moreover, the rate of maturation of the larvae is directly related to the ambient temperature. The higher it is, the faster development occurs. The larvae develop in a mass of rotting waste, excrement, and compost, which provides them with a large amount of nutrients. Flies have no social interaction other than the reproductive instinct. Each larva and each fly develops individually, without cooperating with other insects. In nature, flies compete with each other.
Scientists, having studied the large family of flies, have described about 5,000 species of these insects around the globe. Of these, more than 1000 species are native to Russia.
Most of the described insects do not bother humans at all, and even help. For example, the larva of the hoverfly, which lives on the leaves of trees, eats aphids, and thereby saves the tree or plant from its possible death. But there are also other, so-called synanthropic species of flies that live side by side with humans and are carriers of various pathogenic bacteria and causative agents of many dangerous diseases. Or such insects, in the form of cheese flies, which have a detrimental effect on many products, which is why the latter begin to rot and spoil. And although recently cheese with fly larvae has become a real delicacy in many countries, not every person dares to try such a product.
Types and habitat of insects
Common types of flies include:
- A house type of insect;
- Indoor;
- Market;
- Green carrion species;
- Meat type (medicinal).
Interesting! Treatment with the larvae of meat flies is considered quite effective and even stops the development of gangrene in humans.
The most common type of fly is its indoor representative, which is a synanthropic organism and belongs to dipterous insects. It is practically not found in the undomesticated environment.
Favorable environments for the development of larvae of this species are places with an abundance of organic residues, manure, food waste. The homeland of Musca domestica is the steppes of Central Asia. In Russia, this fly species is described by two subspecies - M. domestica domestica L. and M. domestica vicina Mcq. To date, the described insects have spread to all existing continents, cities and rural areas.
Housefly photo
Anatomical features of the housefly
The hairy body of a fly is divided into three main sections, represented by the abdomen, thorax and head. The last section, in the form of a hemispherical shape, has a rather simplified appearance at the back, and is convex at the front.
The eyes of the representative of the indoor species have a facet system, are large in size and dark red in color. In females, the distance between the eyes is equal to the size of the existing organ of vision, in males it is equal to 2/3 of its length.
Between the existing eyes the fly has a forehead, the middle part of which is marked by the so-called frontal stripe, bounded on the sides by two rows of bristles. In males it is considered to be quite narrow, especially when compared with the frontal stripe of the female.
Between the inner edges of the eyes and the frontal strip are located the eye orbits, framed downward by the cheekbones and upward by dark plates. The orbits and cheekbones of the insect are covered with small hairs of a yellow or silver hue.
Under the existing arcuate suture on the “front” part of the insect there are thin antennae, in the form of antennas, which are the organs of smell. 
The fly is equipped with three pairs of legs, which in turn are divided into 5 more parts. The last part is the insect's feet. The fly moves on claws, under which there are so-called sticky pads, allowing the insect to easily run along steep walls and ceilings.
The length of a housefly can reach 8 mm. The insect is colored gray, where the abdomen has a yellow tint, and the chest is decorated with four stripes in black. If we compare flies with each other, the females of this species are much larger than the males.
During flight, the fly uses exclusively the front pair of wings, while the back one acts as the so-called balance organ. With the help of halteres (the back pair of wings) and the receptors located on them, a fly can easily determine its location. Without halteres, the fly will be completely disoriented in space.
Lifespan
In its development, the insect goes through 3 stages lasting from 8 to 20 days. The life cycle of house flies is defined as 2-4 weeks, but there are individuals that live much longer.
The lifespan of insects is affected by their habitat. For normal existence of the insect, a temperature range of 20-25 is indicated. Having survived the winter period in a room with a low temperature, the fly thereby increases its life cycle. Fertilized female flies, pupae and larvae endure the cold period of the year in a sleepy state without displaying any activity. With the arrival of spring, when the air temperature reaches at least 10, the flies awaken.
Reproduction of flies
How do flies reproduce? The process of reproduction of flies is aimed at preserving its own species. Nature has rewarded flies with enormous fertility, compensating for their short life span. They can constantly reproduce; for example, purely theoretically, one pair of flies over the summer is capable of producing offspring weighing more than 50 tons.
But in nature such a theory is not justified; natural selection is present here. Fly larvae and the insects themselves die from various diseases, become victims of frogs, birds and other animals. And man himself wages a constant struggle aimed at their destruction.
The life of a fly takes place no more than 100 meters from the place of its origin, in places where there is enough waste, in which there is a lot of rot and developing bacteria. Before mating, male flies emit a specific muffled buzzing sound to attract the opposite sex. Mating of flies will occur only if the female among the males finds an individual with the opposite genetic code. A few days after mating, the female fly is ready to lay eggs.
Features of the reproductive organ
The reproductive organ of the female of the described insect consists of:
- Of two dimensional ovaries;
- Paired oviducts;
- Unpaired oviducts;
- Vaginas;
- Three seminal receptacles;
- Two pairs of accessory glands.
The ovaries are represented by a large number of egg tubes, divided by certain constrictions into several parts for the development of follicles in them. The components of the oviduct are represented by a terminal filament and a chamber, as well as a tube with a stalk for connection with the paired oviduct. The terminal chamber consists of cells necessary for the further development of follicles.
Follicles develop sequentially, beginning during the pupal phase. The end is considered to be the adult (definitive) stage of insect development.
During oviposition, fertilization is occupied by an unpaired oviduct, which has the shape of a cylindrical tube. The existing spermatic receptacles consist of capitate reservoirs and ducts connected to the unpaired oviduct. The accessory glands, tubular and saccular, close with the oviduct, secreting a certain secretion, thanks to which the existing eggs are glued to the substrate.
Laying eggs
The described species of flies begins its reproduction process by laying eggs. Egg laying can occur:
- In a pile of pig, horse or bird manure;
- They fell on rotting wounds;
- In spoiled meat components;
- In rotten vegetables or fruits;
- In garbage and rubbish.
To find the place where eggs are laid, the female uses the olfactory organs located on the antennae. But often the sense of smell alone is not enough in this matter, which is why the female, before laying eggs, uses her proboscis, using it to “taste” the substrate, so to speak. And if the substrate is not suitable, the female fly begins to search for a new place to lay her own eggs.
A housefly can lay up to 150 eggs at a time. The cycle of development and transformation of an insect from an egg into a fly takes about two weeks. Each egg is no more than 1.2 mm in size. As the embryos develop, they absorb the yolk and grow slowly. After a day, the fly eggs transform into thin and white legless larvae. The described stage of development of flies is called “nutritional”.
Larval development
After the stage described above, the fly larvae move to another stage of their development. Having emerged from the egg, they feed on the environment where the eggs were previously laid by the female fly. Fly larvae do not settle on the surface; they tend to be closer to warmth and moisture. Moreover, on the surface only the first threats will await them in the form of destruction by birds, small animals and, of course, death from the hot sun.
After a week, the resulting worms begin to look different. They turn brown, the shell of the larvae becomes denser, and it increases in size by as much as 800 times. A similar stage and development of the described flies is indicated by pupae.
For another week, future flies will grow and develop in the so-called pupae, then they will hatch, and at first they will not even be able to fly. Since their wings must dry and strengthen.
After another week, the flies will continue to reproduce, and they will be able to begin the mating process again, starting to breed again.
- one of the basic orders located at the base of the food pyramid. Since flies reproduce very quickly, they provide food for a lot of birds, spiders and other hunters. Without them, the entire ecosystem of the planet will collapse. But when this important link suddenly begins to fill the house, this does not please the people living there.
When masses of buzzing insects appear in a home from nowhere, the owner of the house has two questions: how do flies appear in the apartment and what to do about it. Two types feel most at ease in human housing:
These species are practically omnivorous. For the development of offspring, only dampness and decaying organic matter are required. Sometimes you can come across the statement that the house fly is not able to survive outside human habitation. But before the advent of civilization, it somehow existed. House flies are called so because they found very favorable conditions for reproduction. These flies mainly breed and live in rural areas. Warm, moist manure from domestic animals is well suited for their development. In the city, their habitat is garbage cans. They will appear in the apartment only in unsanitary conditions.
On a note!
Fruit flies only need a small amount of rotten fruit or a dirty trash can to thrive.
Stages of development
Some flies mate just a couple of hours after emerging from the puparium. It takes 36 hours for a housefly to reach sexual maturity. The female only needs copulation once in her entire life. After mating, she begins to lay eggs. Depending on the species, they lay from several tens to 2 thousand pieces over their lifetime.
Flies have a cycle with full development:
- egg;
- 3 larval stages;
- chrysalis;
- imago.
There are viviparous species. Their egg stage is hidden. The larvae develop in the abdomen of the “mother”.
The most common oviparous species are:
- room (house);
- All ;
- Drosophila;
- gadflies;
- horseflies.
Interesting!
If you kill a large blowfly, you can sometimes see that it has maggots inside. This is due to the fact that the pregnant fly was unable to find a suitable piece of meat in time to lay eggs.
Development process
The speed with which flies reproduce can be explained simply: at one time, a fertilized female can lay up to 150 eggs. Within a day, a larva appears - maggot. All three stages pass within a week. During this time, it increases in size 800 times.
At the third stage, the maggot pupates and remains dormant for another week. The overall development cycle takes only 14 days. Thus, new flies are born every 2 weeks. The lifespan of the imago is 3 weeks.
Since during her life a female can lay up to 2 thousand eggs and during this time 1 generation of her “children” will have time to appear, one should not be surprised at the rapidity of the house being infested with insects.
Reproduction in nature and in the house: what are the differences
In short, the difference is in the number of surviving offspring. In nature there are no such favorable conditions as near human habitation. That's why house flies moved to villages and cities. IN natural environment they had to look for wet animal droppings, which could dry out and then the larvae would die. There are also plenty of people in nature who want to feast on eggs and larvae of any type of insect.
All these dangers are absent near humans. Decaying food scraps in a dirty trash can are always damp. You can find organic matter in damp places in the toilet and bathroom. In the village, house flies have access to a barn with livestock and manure heaps.
On a note!
High fertility is confirmation that in nature very few offspring survive.
The difference between a young and fertilized individual
The description of a house fly usually mentions that it has. This is due to the fact that the female mate almost as soon as it begins to fly. After all, she needs to produce an average of 700 embryos per week.
The young female has a narrow abdomen, resembling an elongated isosceles triangle. After fertilization, eggs begin to form in the abdomen, and it takes on the familiar round shape and increases in size by 4 times.
Viviparous species
These representatives are characterized by rather low “productivity” due to the greater protection of the larvae. Viviparous species living in Europe include. In Africa this species is.
The gastric botfly lays eggs on animal fur. When they lick the eggs from the fur, they end up in the stomach. Only after this does the larva emerge and begin its development in the host’s gastrointestinal tract.
The subcutaneous lays eggs on the fur. The emerging individual independently goes deep under the skin, where it passes through all stages of development in safety, leaving the host only before pupation. Sheep and horse gadflies "splash" eggs into the eyes and nasal cavities of animals in the same way as the Wohlfarth fly does with larvae.
It is difficult to find a more arrogant and persistent creature than the house fly. These small buzzing insects are not only thoroughly annoying with their endless scurrying around the room, but also pose a considerable danger to humans, since they are the world's most important carriers of all kinds of infection and the initiators of many diseases dangerous to humans.
House fly
The housefly or housefly is a representative of the family of True flies, which formed its own separate taxon in the course of evolution, splitting off from its wild relatives due to its attachment, so to speak, to human habitats rich in terms of food.
The answer to the question of what a fly looks like is easy to give. This pest cannot boast of anything outstanding in its appearance.
This cheeky insect is usually no more than 1cm in length and has a simple gray body with a yellow tint to the lower abdomen. Also, the thoracic segment of the housefly has several black stripes, and a pair of compound eyes are located on the head. These are known to be flying insects that have two pairs of wings.
These domestic parasites are extremely fertile, and this is the main danger of allowing their uncontrolled reproduction in conditions of close living with humans. One female individual can lay more than a hundred eggs at a time, and the reproductive period of these insects lasts their entire short life.
No wonder there is a saying “they breed like flies.” But we will talk about the reproduction features of these pests in more detail a little later.
As promised, in this review we will take a closer look at the analysis of the housefly’s lifestyle; learn how flies reproduce; Let’s determine what determines the lifespan of a fly.
Now we propose to go through all stages of the life of this insect in order to track the entire cycle of their existence. So, let's go.
Stages of development
Most insects are characterized by developmental metamorphosis in several stages. The fly is no exception. In the life of this insect, all the traditional four stages are present, during which this pest goes through its entire life path.
So, let's list these 4 phases of life and development of a fly, they are as follows:
- egg;
- larva;
- chrysalis;
- adult.
Now let's go through each of these four stages in more detail. Let's find out how long it takes an insect to pass through each of them, and how they are characteristic.
Egg
As already mentioned, one female fly can lay up to 120 eggs at a time. Usually, for laying, these insects choose the places most suitable for the survival of their offspring in the first stage of life.
These include:
- all kinds of human waste;
- cattle manure and domestic animal excrement;
- corpses of dead animals;
- cesspools;
- rotten fruits and vegetables;
- rotten meat products.
It must be said that being in the egg state is the shortest development cycle of this insect. It takes just a day for the egg to metamorphose into a tiny larva.
During this one day, fly eggs that do not exceed 2 mm. in length, nourish the embryos located inside with yolk. After which, about 24 hours later, larvae emerge from the eggs.
Larva
Like a fly walking on the ceiling.
The larvae that have just hatched from the eggs resemble thin white threads that can barely be seen with the naked eye. When asked how long it takes for the larva to move to the next stage of development, let’s say that the insect usually stays in this state for about a week, more often not even more than 5 days.
The larva is usually very difficult to detect, since it avoids exposure to direct sunlight and tries to burrow as deeply as possible into the environment in which it was born. In the thickness of the nutritional substance, the larva gains the calories it needs for development.
It becomes fatter, becomes larger, changes its pale color to a brownish tint, after which it pupates, making the transition to a new stage of its existence.
Doll
The most passive stage of an insect's life is the stage of being in the form of a pupa. A fly pupa is formed by hardening the skin of the larva, which becomes the pupal case or puparium. Inside this case, the final metamorphosis occurs, during which the tissues of the larva disintegrate and a restructuring of all its systems occurs.
This is how the adult individual (imago) is formed, so familiar and easily recognized by everyone. How long does this transformation process take? Just 5 days, and another buzzing pest is born in all its “glory”.
Reproduction
It's time to answer the question of how flies appear in our house. Adults of this insect live extremely short lives, and the essence of their existence is to fulfill their reproductive duty to their species.
The larvae of this pest need a moist and nutritious environment for development, therefore, after mating, the female fly begins to search for the most favorable location for her future offspring.
Most often, a compost pit in the garden or a large manure heap acts as such an incubator for laid eggs, and then for voracious larvae.
Having found appropriate place for laying, the female produces up to 120 eggs in one sitting.
Lifespan
As we already understood from the previous chapters of our review, the total lifespan of a fly can be 10-30 days. Having summed up all the stages of the life cycle during which the development of a fly occurs from birth as an egg to the death of an adult winged individual, we arrive at exactly this general period.
What factors influence the lifespan of a buzzing parasite? First of all, the temperature regime of its habitat. The insect can live in conditions from 10 to 40 degrees, but the optimal range is 18-25 degrees.
The life of a fly can last much longer than several weeks, especially if the insect managed to survive the winter period. Some particularly lucky individuals can live for 2 months, but this is still largely an exception.
Prevention
Before concluding our review, as a prelude to it, I would like to recall the basic rules for preventing the appearance of these unpleasant guests in our home.
In order not to attract flies and prevent them from breeding in the apartment, you must follow these rules, namely:
- keep the house clean;
- remove fruits and vegetables, as well as meat products, from open areas in a timely manner;
- promptly send everything that has accumulated in the trash can to recycling containers;
- use mosquito nets on windows;
- follow traditional methods insect control.
Conclusion
So, we analyzed the life cycle of the housefly. We traced the sequence of stages of her life; We found out how many days this insect needs to overcome each stage, how flies reproduce, and how long a fly lives in optimal conditions for it.
All this knowledge will help us deduce the relationship between the life span of the pest and those factors that can stop the active reproduction of flies in our abode.
Many pests live near humans. One of the most unpleasant “neighbors” is the fly.
She not only annoys with her buzzing, but also carries dangerous diseases. Knowing the answer to the question of how house flies reproduce, you can get additional weapons against these insects.
House flies have a developed reproductive function. During one season, a male and a female are capable of producing a huge number of offspring. By September, their total weight can reach 42-43 tons.
Note!
The average lifespan of a fly varies from 3 to 4 weeks.
How do flies reproduce? After mating, the female lays eggs. She usually prefers organic waste or food products. Throughout her life, the female lays up to 3.0 thousand eggs. At one time, the insect lays from 145 to 148 eggs. Their size does not exceed 1 mm.
How quickly do flies reproduce? The larva hatches from the egg after 24 hours. Having been born, she begins to eat the waste in which she was born. The digestive juices of this tiny creature help liquefy food.
The larva's body receives the consistency that it is able to process.
Pupation of the larvae occurs in approximately 8-10 days. After 6-7 days, the young fly makes its first oviposition.
How do fruit flies reproduce?
Like other dipterans, these insects reproduce as follows:
- laying eggs by the female;
- appearance of larvae;
- transformation of a larva into an adult.
Eggs thrive on half-rotted fruit. The egg size varies between 0.3-0.5 mm. The size of the larva is 3.5 mm.
The pest becomes sexually mature 8 hours after birth.
The ability to lay eggs appears the next day after growing up. An adult lays up to 55-75 eggs at a time.
Life cycle of a pest
How do flies reproduce in the house?
The life cycle of a pest consists of the following stages:
- Egg.
- Larva.
- Young specimen.
- A sexually mature individual, ready to reproduce.
First stage
At the first stage of development, the larvae resemble thin white threads. This period is called “nutritional”. Its duration varies from 5 to 7 days.
During this time, the larva “bites” into rot or other suitable food. Main criterion- more humidity and heat.
The larvae rush deeper not only for tasty food. They try to hide away from ultraviolet radiation and natural enemies.
Further development
On the 5th-6th day of its development, the larva increases in size up to 600-700 times. Its color changes to brownish.
When the feeding stage is completed, the pupation period begins. The pest spends about 7 more days in this state.
12-13 days after birth, the adult itself makes the first oviposition.
Over time, the size of the insect does not change. For the first 1-2 days they do not fly. Their wings are quite weak. They need time to dry and become stronger.
What happens to a fly in the fall
With the onset of autumn, the expanse of flies ends. Already at the end of August, more than 90% of the livestock dies. Fly corpses with mutilated paws appear on the window panes. The reason for this is “fly mold”, consisting of mushroom threads. Having sat on such a thread, the insect tightly sticks to it.
As it develops, it grows through the insect's body and disperses reproductive spores. This leads to infection of other individuals.
In autumn and winter, flies die en masse not only in cities, but also in rural areas. Those that manage to survive fly away for the winter. Some pests are able to travel distances from 1 to 20 kilometers.
Conclusion
- garbage must be removed in a timely manner;
- Do not leave crumbs or drops on the table;
- the house should be kept clean.
You also need to get rid of organic waste as soon as possible. To kill flies, you can use both chemical and folk remedies.
People living in rural areas need to take special care of their animal premises. Cattle must be regularly examined for wounds and abrasions.
The compost bin should always be kept closed.
Mosquito nets must be installed on windows. The modern design is highly reliable. This way you can protect yourself from both flies and mosquitoes.