Species Musca domestica - House Fly

Musca domestica Linnaeus 1758

adult body 6-7 mm; females usually larger than males; larva 3-12 mm; pupa to 8 mm

cosmopolitan, of Eurasian origin

around homes, poultry & dairy farms, stables, garbage dumps, and other sources of rotting plant or animal matter; adults are inactive at night, often resting on ceilings in buildings, or on vegetation outdoors

spring through fall

adults feed on fresh and fermenting/rotting food, and garbage; adult mouthparts allow ingestion of liquid food only; solid materials are liquified by means of regurgitated saliva

larvae feed on moist material rich in organic matter where eggs were laid: manure, rotting plant or animal tissue, garbage

Overwinters as larva or pupa under manure piles or in other protected locations. During summer, the life cycle can be completed in 7-10 days, and up to 12 generations may occur in one summer. Eggs are laid singly but pile up in small masses. Each female fly can lay up to 500 eggs in several batches of 75-150 eggs, each over a 3-4 day period. The larvae emerge within 8-20 hours and develop through 3 instars. Full-grown larvae crawl up to 15 m to a dried cool place and pupate. Adults usually live 15-25 days.(1)

>100 pathogens associated with the house fly may cause disease in humans and animals; pathogens are picked up by flies from garbage, sewage and other sources of filth, and transferred to human and animal food on fly mouthparts, other contaminated body parts, or through their vomitus/feces(1)