103-414: Housefly (Muscidae) (top left) Haematopota pluvialis (Tabanidae) (top right) Ctenophora pectinicornis (Tipulidae) (mid left) Ochlerotatus notoscriptus (Culicidae) (mid right) Milesia crabroniformis (Syrphidae) (bottom left) Holcocephala fusca (Asilidae) (bottom right) Nematocera ( paraphyletic ) (inc Eudiptera ) Brachycera Flies are insects of the order Diptera ,
206-560: A mutualistic relationship with the bacterium Klebsiella oxytoca , which can live on the surface of housefly eggs and deter fungi which compete with the housefly larvae for nutrients. Adult houseflies are diurnal and rest at night. If inside a building after dark, they tend to congregate on ceilings, beams, and overhead wires, while out of doors, they crawl into foliage or long grass, or rest in shrubs and trees or on wires. In cooler climates, some houseflies hibernate in winter, choosing to do so in cracks and crevices, gaps in woodwork, and
309-419: A pheromone , (Z)-9-tricosene (muscalure) . This cuticular hydrocarbon is not released into the air and males sense it only on contact with females; it has found use as in pest control, for luring males to fly traps. The male initiates the mating by bumping into the female, in the air or on the ground, known as a "strike". He climbs on to her thorax, and if she is receptive, a courtship period follows, in which
412-428: A secondary host or act as a reservoir of any bacteria of medical or veterinary importance, but they do serve as mechanical vectors to over 100 pathogens , such as those causing typhoid , cholera , salmonellosis , bacillary dysentery , tuberculosis , anthrax , ophthalmia , and pyogenic cocci, making them especially problematic in hospitals and during outbreaks of certain diseases. Disease-causing organisms on
515-564: A bacterial slurry that coated the houseflies prior to release. Vibrio cholerae , which causes cholera, was the bacterium of choice, and was used by Japan against the Chinese in Baoshan in 1942, and in northern Shandong in 1943. The Baoshan bombing produced epidemics that killed 60,000 people in the initial stages, reaching a radius of 200 kilometres (120 mi) which finally took a toll of 200,000 victims. The Shandong attack killed 210,000;
618-411: A considerable number, keeping the wings gripped together especially tightly. Hymenopteran wings have relatively few veins compared with many other insects, especially in the smaller species. In the more ancestral hymenopterans, the ovipositor is blade-like, and has evolved for slicing plant tissues. In the majority, however, it is modified for piercing, and, in some cases, is several times the length of
721-478: A day, larvae ( maggots ) hatch from the eggs; they live and feed where they were laid. They are pale-whitish, 3 to 9 mm ( 1 ⁄ 8 to 11 ⁄ 32 in) long, thinner at the mouth end, and legless. Larval development takes from two weeks, under optimal conditions, to 30 days or more in cooler conditions. The larvae avoid light; the interiors of heaps of animal manure provide nutrient-rich sites and ideal growing conditions, warm, moist, and dark. At
824-476: A high degree of resistance . Resistance monitoring is vital to avoid continued use of ineffective active ingredients such as found in the notably severe example of Freeman et al 2019 in Kansas and Maryland , USA. Several means of biological pest control have been investigated. These include the introduction of another species, the black soldier fly ( Hermetia illucens ), whose larvae compete with those of
927-483: A key characteristic of this order is that the hindwings are connected to the forewings by a series of hooks . Thus, another plausible etymology involves Hymen , the Ancient Greek god of marriage, as these insects have married wings in flight. Another suggestion for the inclusion of Hymen is the myth of Melissa , a nymph with a prominent role at the wedding of Zeus. Molecular analysis finds that Hymenoptera
1030-452: A length of up to 7 cm (2.8 in), is generally considered to be the largest fly in the world, while the smallest is Euryplatea nanaknihali , which at 0.4 mm (0.016 in) is smaller than a grain of salt. Brachycera are ecologically very diverse, with many being predatory at the larval stage and some being parasitic. Animals parasitised include molluscs , woodlice , millipedes , insects, mammals , and amphibians . Flies are
1133-402: A meal. For visual course control, flies' optic flow field is analyzed by a set of motion-sensitive neurons. A subset of these neurons is thought to be involved in using the optic flow to estimate the parameters of self-motion, such as yaw, roll, and sideward translation. Other neurons are thought to be involved in analyzing the content of the visual scene itself, such as separating figures from
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#17327662270851236-401: A mobile head, with a pair of large compound eyes , and mouthparts designed for piercing and sucking (mosquitoes, black flies and robber flies), or for lapping and sucking in the other groups. Their wing arrangement gives them great manoeuvrability in flight, and claws and pads on their feet enable them to cling to smooth surfaces. Flies undergo complete metamorphosis ; the eggs are often laid on
1339-559: A nuisance, disturbing people while at leisure and at work, but they are disliked principally because of their habits of contaminating foodstuffs. They alternate between breeding and feeding in dirty places with feeding on human foods, during which process they soften the food with saliva and deposit their feces, creating a health hazard. However, housefly larvae are as nutritious as fish meal , and could be used to convert waste to insect-based animal feed for farmed fish and livestock . Housefly larvae have been used in traditional cures since
1442-429: A pair of claws, and below them are two adhesive pads, pulvilli , enabling the housefly to walk up smooth walls and ceilings using Van der Waals forces . The claws help the housefly to unstick the foot for the next step. Houseflies walk with a common gait on horizontal and vertical surfaces with three legs in contact with the surface and three in movement. On inverted surfaces, they alter the gait to keep four feet stuck to
1545-434: A variety of hosts. The larvae of the shore flies (Ephydridae) and some Chironomidae survive in extreme environments including glaciers ( Diamesa sp., Chironomidae), hot springs, geysers, saline pools, sulphur pools, septic tanks and even crude oil ( Helaeomyia petrolei ). Adult hoverflies (Syrphidae) are well known for their mimicry and the larvae adopt diverse lifestyles including being inquiline scavengers inside
1648-409: A wide range of feeding habits. The most primitive forms are typically phytophagous, feeding on flowers, pollen, foliage, or stems. Stinging wasps are predators, and will provision their larvae with immobilised prey, while bees feed on nectar and pollen . A huge number of species are parasitoids as larvae. The adults inject the eggs into a host, which they begin to consume after hatching. For example,
1751-503: A wormlike larval stage and an inactive pupal stage before they reach adulthood. The name Hymenoptera refers to the wings of the insects, but the original derivation is ambiguous. All references agree that the derivation involves the Ancient Greek πτερόν ( pteron ) for wing. The Ancient Greek ὑμήν ( hymen ) for membrane provides a plausible etymology for the term because species in this order have membranous wings. However,
1854-485: Is Spilomyia longicornis , which is a fly but mimics a vespid wasp. Flies have a mobile head with a pair of large compound eyes on the sides of the head, and in most species, three small ocelli on the top. The compound eyes may be close together or widely separated, and in some instances are divided into a dorsal region and a ventral region, perhaps to assist in swarming behaviour. The antennae are well-developed but variable, being thread-like, feathery or comb-like in
1957-399: Is determined by the number of chromosomes an individual possesses. Fertilized eggs get two sets of chromosomes (one from each parent's respective gametes ) and develop into diploid females, while unfertilized eggs only contain one set (from the mother) and develop into haploid males. The act of fertilization is under the voluntary control of the egg-laying female, giving her control of
2060-525: Is a fly of the suborder Cyclorrhapha . It possibly originated in the Middle East , and spread around the world as a commensal of humans . It is the most common fly species found in houses . Adults are gray to black, with four dark, longitudinal lines on the thorax, slightly hairy bodies, and a single pair of membranous wings. They have red eyes , set farther apart in the slightly larger female. The female housefly usually mates only once and stores
2163-401: Is also used to distribute saliva to soften solid foods or collect loose particles. Houseflies have chemoreceptors , organs of taste, on the tarsi of their legs, so they can identify foods such as sugars by walking over them. Houseflies are often seen cleaning their legs by rubbing them together, enabling the chemoreceptors to taste afresh whatever they walk on next. At the end of each leg is
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#17327662270852266-428: Is complete, the adult housefly emerges from the pupa. To do this, it uses the ptilinum , an eversible pouch on its head, to tear open the end of the pupal case. Having emerged from the pupa, it ceases to grow; a small fly is not necessarily a young fly, but is instead the result of getting insufficient food during the larval stage. Male houseflies are sexually mature after 16 hours and females after 24. Females produce
2369-452: Is controlled, as in other insects, by an ancient developmental switch , doublesex , which is regulated by the transformer protein in many different insects. Mdmd causes male development by negatively regulating transformer . There is also a female-determining allele of transformer that is not sensitive to the negative regulation of Mdmd. The antimicrobial peptides produced by housefly maggots are of pharmacological interest. In
2472-497: Is geographic variation with larger individuals in higher latitudes. The head is strongly convex in front and flat and slightly conical behind. The pair of large compound eyes almost touch in the male, but are more widely separated in the female. They have three simple eyes ( ocelli ) and a pair of short antennae. Houseflies process visual information around seven times more quickly than humans, enabling them to identify and avoid attempts to catch or swat them, since they effectively see
2575-547: Is one of the major insect orders and of considerable ecological and human importance. Flies are major pollinators, second only to the bees and their Hymenopteran relatives. Flies may have been among the evolutionarily earliest pollinators responsible for early plant pollination . Fruit flies are used as model organisms in research, but less benignly, mosquitoes are vectors for malaria , dengue , West Nile fever , yellow fever , encephalitis , and other infectious diseases ; and houseflies , commensal with humans all over
2678-611: Is the earliest branching group of Holometabola . Hymenoptera (sawflies, wasps) [REDACTED] Coleoptera (beetles) [REDACTED] Strepsiptera (twisted-wing parasites) [REDACTED] Raphidioptera (snakeflies) [REDACTED] Megaloptera (alderflies and allies) [REDACTED] Neuroptera (Lacewings and allies) [REDACTED] Lepidoptera (butterflies, moths) [REDACTED] Trichoptera (caddisflies) [REDACTED] Diptera [REDACTED] Mecoptera (scorpionflies) [REDACTED] Siphonaptera (fleas) [REDACTED] Hymenoptera originated in
2781-474: Is the elimination as far as possible of potential breeding sites. Keeping garbage in lidded containers and collecting it regularly and frequently, prevents any eggs laid from developing into adults. Unhygienic rubbish tips are a prime housefly-breeding site, but if garbage is covered by a layer of soil, preferably daily, this can be avoided. Insecticides can be used. Larvicides kill the developing larvae, but large quantities may need to be used to reach areas below
2884-523: Is widely thought to be a member of Mecopterida , along with Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths), Trichoptera (caddisflies), Siphonaptera (fleas), Mecoptera (scorpionflies) and possibly Strepsiptera (twisted-wing flies). Diptera has been grouped with Siphonaptera and Mecoptera in the Antliophora, but this has not been confirmed by molecular studies. Diptera were traditionally broken down into two suborders, Nematocera and Brachycera , distinguished by
2987-680: The Americas . Though the order of flies (Diptera) is much older, true houseflies are believed to have evolved in the beginning of the Cenozoic Era. The housefly's superfamily, Muscoidea , is most closely related to the Oestroidea (blow flies, flesh flies and allies), and more distantly to the Hippoboscoidea (louse flies, bat flies and allies). They are thought to have originated in the southern Palearctic region, particularly
3090-630: The Jurassic , some 180 million years ago. A third radiation took place among the Schizophora at the start of the Paleogene , 66 million years ago. The phylogenetic position of Diptera has been controversial. The monophyly of holometabolous insects has long been accepted, with the main orders being established as Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, Hymenoptera and Diptera, and it is the relationships between these groups which has caused difficulties. Diptera
3193-1066: The Mecopterida , alongside the Mecoptera , Siphonaptera , Lepidoptera and Trichoptera . The possession of a single pair of wings distinguishes most true flies from other insects with "fly" in their names. However, some true flies such as Hippoboscidae (louse flies) have become secondarily wingless. The cladogram represents the current consensus view. Hymenoptera (sawflies, wasps, ants, bees) [REDACTED] Raphidioptera (snakeflies) [REDACTED] Megaloptera (alderflies and allies) [REDACTED] Neuroptera (Lacewings and allies) [REDACTED] Coleoptera (beetles) [REDACTED] Strepsiptera (twisted-wing parasites) [REDACTED] Trichoptera (caddisflies) [REDACTED] Lepidoptera (butterflies, moths) [REDACTED] Diptera [REDACTED] Mecoptera (scorpionflies) [REDACTED] Siphonaptera (fleas) [REDACTED] The first true dipterans known are from
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3296-665: The Middle Triassic (around 240 million years ago), and they became widespread during the Middle and Late Triassic . Modern flowering plants did not appear until the Cretaceous (around 140 million years ago), so the original dipterans must have had a different source of nutrition other than nectar . Based on the attraction of many modern fly groups to shiny droplets, it has been suggested that they may have fed on honeydew produced by sap-sucking bugs which were abundant at
3399-544: The Ming period in China (1386 AD) for a range of medical conditions and have been considered as a useful source of chitosan , with antioxidant properties, and possibly other proteins and polysaccharides of medical value. Houseflies have been used in art and artifacts in many cultures. In 16th- and 17th-century European vanitas paintings, houseflies sometimes occur as memento mori . They may also be used for other effects as in
3502-635: The Strepsiptera . In contrast to the flies, the Strepsiptera bear their halteres on the mesothorax and their flight wings on the metathorax. Each of the fly's six legs has a typical insect structure of coxa, trochanter, femur, tibia and tarsus, with the tarsus in most instances being subdivided into five tarsomeres . At the tip of the limb is a pair of claws, and between these are cushion-like structures known as pulvilli which provide adhesion. Housefly The housefly ( Musca domestica )
3605-536: The Triassic , with the oldest fossils belonging to the family Xyelidae . Social hymenopterans appeared during the Cretaceous . The evolution of this group has been intensively studied by Alex Rasnitsyn , Michael S. Engel , and others. Phylogenetic relationships within the Hymenoptera, based on both morphology and molecular data, have been intensively studied since 2000. In 2023, a molecular study based on
3708-402: The genetic load of deleterious genes is purged relatively quickly. Some hymenopterans take advantage of parthenogenesis , the creation of embryos without fertilization . Thelytoky is a particular form of parthenogenesis in which female embryos are created (without fertilisation). The form of thelytoky in hymenopterans is a kind of automixis in which two haploid products (proto-eggs) from
3811-405: The pseudoscorpion Lamprochernes chyzeri . The pathogenic fungus Entomophthora muscae causes a fatal disease in houseflies. After infection, the fungal hyphae grow throughout the body, killing the housefly in about five days. Infected houseflies have been known to seek high temperatures that could suppress the growth of the fungus. Affected females tend to be more attractive to males, but
3914-449: The sawflies , wasps , bees , and ants . Over 150,000 living species of Hymenoptera have been described, in addition to over 2,000 extinct ones. Many of the species are parasitic . Females typically have a special ovipositor for inserting eggs into hosts or places that are otherwise inaccessible. This ovipositor is often modified into a stinger . The young develop through holometabolism (complete metamorphosis )—that is, they have
4017-409: The sperm for later use. It lays batches of about 100 eggs on decaying organic matter such as food waste , carrion , or feces . These soon hatch into legless white larvae , known as maggots . After two to five days of development, these metamorphose into reddish-brown pupae , about 8 millimetres ( 3 ⁄ 8 inch) long. Adult flies normally live for two to four weeks, but can hibernate during
4120-546: The thorax , bears the wings and contains the flight muscles on the second segment, which is greatly enlarged; the first and third segments have been reduced to collar-like structures, and the third segment bears the halteres , which help to balance the insect during flight. The third tagma is the abdomen consisting of 11 segments, some of which may be fused, and with the 3 hindmost segments modified for reproduction. Some Dipterans are mimics and can only be distinguished from their models by very careful inspection. An example of this
4223-413: The 1970s, the aircraft modeler Frank Ehling constructed miniature balsa-wood aircraft powered by live houseflies. Studies of tethered houseflies have helped in the understanding of insect vision, sensory perception, and flight control. The Impertinent Insect is a group of five fables, sometimes ascribed to Aesop , concerning an insect, in one version a fly, which puffs itself up to seem important. In
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4326-521: The Biblical fourth plague of Egypt , flies represent death and decay, while the Philistine god Beelzebub 's name may mean "lord of the flies". In Greek mythology , Myiagros was a god who chased away flies during the sacrifices to Zeus and Athena ; Zeus sent a fly to bite Pegasus , causing Bellerophon to fall back to Earth when he attempted to ride the winged steed to Mount Olympus . In
4429-824: The Brachycera includes broader, more robust flies with short antennae. Many nematoceran larvae are aquatic. There are estimated to be a total of about 19,000 species of Diptera in Europe, 22,000 in the Nearctic region, 20,000 in the Afrotropical region, 23,000 in the Oriental region and 19,000 in the Australasian region. While most species have restricted distributions, a few like the housefly ( Musca domestica ) are cosmopolitan. Gauromydas heros ( Asiloidea ), with
4532-497: The Cape honey bee Apis mellifera capensis . Oocytes that undergo automixis with central fusion often have a reduced rate of crossover recombination , which helps to maintain heterozygosity and avoid inbreeding depression . Species that display central fusion with reduced recombination include the ants Platythyrea punctata and Wasmannia auropunctata and the Cape honey bee Apis mellifera capensis . In A. m. capensis ,
4635-636: The Flemish painting, the Master of Frankfurt (1496). Housefly amulets were popular in ancient Egypt. Houseflies can fly for several kilometers from their breeding places, carrying a wide variety of organisms on their hairs, mouthparts, vomitus, and feces. Parasites carried include cysts of protozoa , e.g. Entamoeba histolytica and Giardia lamblia and eggs of helminths; e.g., Ascaris lumbricoides , Trichuris trichiura , Hymenolepis nana , and Enterobius vermicularis . Houseflies do not serve as
4738-513: The Flies , the fly is, however, a symbol of the children involved. Ogden Nash 's humorous two-line 1942 poem "God in His wisdom made the fly/And then forgot to tell us why." indicates the debate about the value of biodiversity, given that even those considered by humans as pests have their place in the world's ecosystems. Hymenoptera Hymenoptera is a large order of insects , comprising
4841-526: The Middle East. Because of their close, commensal relationship with humans, they probably owe their worldwide dispersal to co-migration with humans. The housefly was first described as Musca domestica in 1758 based on the common European specimens by the Swedish botanist and zoologist Carl Linnaeus in his Systema naturae and continues to be classified under that name. A more detailed description
4944-1401: The Nematocera. The construction of a phylogenetic tree has been the subject of ongoing research. The following cladogram is based on the FLYTREE project. Ptychopteromorpha (phantom and primitive crane-flies) [REDACTED] Culicomorpha (mosquitoes, blackflies and midges) [REDACTED] Blephariceromorpha (net-winged midges, etc) [REDACTED] Bibionomorpha (gnats) [REDACTED] Psychodomorpha (drain flies, sand flies, etc) [REDACTED] Tipulomorpha (crane flies) [REDACTED] Stratiomyomorpha (soldier flies, etc) [REDACTED] Xylophagomorpha (stink flies, etc) [REDACTED] Tabanomorpha (horse flies, snipe flies, etc) [REDACTED] Nemestrinoidea [REDACTED] Asiloidea (robber flies, bee flies, etc) [REDACTED] Empidoidea (dance flies, etc) [REDACTED] Aschiza (in part) Phoroidea (flat-footed flies, etc) [REDACTED] Syrphoidea (hoverflies) [REDACTED] Hippoboscoidea (louse flies, etc) [REDACTED] Muscoidea (house flies, dung flies, etc) [REDACTED] Oestroidea (blow flies, flesh flies, etc) [REDACTED] Acalyptratae (marsh flies, etc) [REDACTED] Flies are often abundant and are found in almost all terrestrial habitats in
5047-826: The analysis of ultra-conserved elements confirmed many previous findings and produced a relatively robust phylogeny of the whole Order. Basal superfamilies are shown in the cladogram below. Tenthredinoidea [REDACTED] Xyeloidea ( Triassic -present) [REDACTED] Pamphilioidea [REDACTED] Siricoidea (horntails or wood wasps) [REDACTED] Xiphydrioidea (wood wasps) [REDACTED] Cephoidea (stem sawflies) [REDACTED] Orussoidea ( parasitic wood wasps) [REDACTED] Apocrita ( ants , bees , wasps ) [REDACTED] Hymenopterans range in size from very small to large insects, and usually have two pairs of wings. Their mouthparts are adapted for chewing, with well-developed mandibles (ectognathous mouthparts). Many species have further developed
5150-517: The antennae and the maxillary palps bear the main olfactory receptors, while the gustatory receptors are in the labium, pharynx, feet, wing margins and female genitalia, enabling flies to taste their food by walking on it. The taste receptors in females at the tip of the abdomen receive information on the suitability of a site for ovipositing. Flies that feed on blood have special sensory structures that can detect infrared emissions, and use them to home in on their hosts, Many blood-sucking flies can detect
5253-429: The body. In some species, the ovipositor has become modified as a stinger , and the eggs are laid from the base of the structure, rather than from the tip, which is used only to inject venom . The sting is typically used to immobilize prey, but in some wasps and bees may be used in defense. Hymenopteran larvae typically have a distinct head region, three thoracic segments, and usually nine or 10 abdominal segments. In
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#17327662270855356-402: The differences in antennae. The Nematocera are identified by their elongated bodies and many-segmented, often feathery antennae as represented by mosquitoes and crane flies. The Brachycera have rounder bodies and much shorter antennae. Subsequent studies have identified the Nematocera as being non-monophyletic with modern phylogenies placing the Brachycera within grades of groups formerly placed in
5459-430: The different families. The mouthparts are adapted for piercing and sucking, as in the black flies, mosquitoes and robber flies, and for lapping and sucking as in many other groups. Female horse-flies use knife-like mandibles and maxillae to make a cross-shaped incision in the host's skin and then lap up the blood that flows. The gut includes large diverticulae , allowing the insect to store small quantities of liquid after
5562-420: The eggs of the endangered Papilio homerus are parasitized at a rate of 77%, mainly by Hymenoptera species. Some species are even hyperparasitoid , with the host itself being another parasitoid insect. Habits intermediate between those of the herbivorous and parasitoid forms are shown in some hymenopterans, which inhabit the galls or nests of other insects, stealing their food, and eventually killing and eating
5665-487: The end of their third instar , the larvae crawl to a dry, cool place and transform into pupae . The pupal case is cylindrical with rounded ends, about 8 mm ( 5 ⁄ 16 in) long, and formed from the last shed larval skin. It is yellowish at first, darkening through red and brown to nearly black as it ages. Pupae complete their development in two to six days at 35 °C (95 °F), but may take 20 days or more at 14 °C (57 °F). When metamorphosis
5768-552: The female vibrates her wings and the male strokes her head. The male then reverses onto her abdomen and the female pushes her ovipositor into his genital opening; copulation, with sperm transfer, lasts for several minutes. Females normally mate only once and then reject further advances from males, while males mate multiple times. A volatile semiochemical that is deposited by females on their eggs attracts other gravid females and leads to clustered egg deposition. The larvae depend on warmth and sufficient moisture to develop; generally,
5871-745: The flies, principally in the family Cecidomyiidae (gall midges). Many flies (most importantly in the family Agromyzidae) lay their eggs in the mesophyll tissue of leaves with larvae feeding between the surfaces forming blisters and mines. Some families are mycophagous or fungus feeding. These include the cave dwelling Mycetophilidae (fungus gnats) whose larvae are the only diptera with bioluminescence. The Sciaridae are also fungus feeders. Some plants are pollinated by fungus feeding flies that visit fungus infected male flowers. The larvae of Megaselia scalaris (Phoridae) are almost omnivorous and consume such substances as paint and shoe polish. The Exorista mella (Walker) fly are considered generalists and parasitoids of
5974-446: The folds of curtains. They arouse in the spring when the weather warms up, and search out a place to lay their eggs. Houseflies have many predators, including birds, reptiles, amphibians, various insects, and spiders. The eggs, larvae, and pupae have many species of stage-specific parasites and parasitoids . Some of the more important are the parasitic wasps Muscidifurax uniraptor and Spalangia cameroni ; these lay their eggs in
6077-613: The fruit fly Drosophila , have made them useful as model organism for use in laboratories. The American entomologist Vincent Dethier , in his humorous To Know A Fly (1962), pointed out that as a laboratory animal, houseflies did not trouble anyone sensitive to animal cruelty. Houseflies have a small number of chromosomes, haploid 6 or diploid 12. Because the somatic tissue of the housefly consists of long-lived postmitotic cells, it can be used as an informative model system for understanding cumulative age-related cellular alterations . Oxidative DNA damage 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine in houseflies
6180-409: The fungus-host interactions have not been fully understood. The housefly also acts as the alternative host to the parasitic nematode Habronema muscae that attacks horses. A virus that causes enlargement of the salivary glands, salivary gland hypertrophy virus (SGHV), is spread among houseflies through contact with food and infected female houseflies become sterile. Houseflies are often considered
6283-466: The greatest numbers being detected in the abdomen. In the early 20th century, Canadian public health workers believed that the control of houseflies was important in controlling the spread of tuberculosis. A "swat that fly" contest was held for children in Montreal in 1912. Houseflies were targeted in 1916, when a polio epidemic broke out in the eastern United States. The belief that housefly control
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#17327662270856386-523: The ground using motion parallax. The H1 neuron is responsible for detecting horizontal motion across the entire visual field of the fly, allowing the fly to generate and guide stabilizing motor corrections midflight with respect to yaw. The ocelli are concerned in the detection of changes in light intensity, enabling the fly to react swiftly to the approach of an object. Like other insects, flies have chemoreceptors that detect smell and taste, and mechanoreceptors that respond to touch. The third segments of
6489-464: The hind pair is reduced to small halteres that aid in flight stability. The wings are translucent with a yellowish tinge at their base. Characteristically, the medial vein (M1+2 or fourth long vein ) shows a sharp upward bend. Each wing has a lobe at the back, the calypter , covering the haltere. The abdomen is gray or yellowish with a dark stripe and irregular dark markings at the side. It has 10 segments which bear spiracles for respiration. In males,
6592-404: The housefly for resources. The introduction of dung beetles to churn up the surface of a manure heap and render it unsuitable for breeding is another approach. Augmentative biological control by releasing parasitoids can be used, but houseflies breed so fast that the natural enemies are unable to keep up. The ease of culturing houseflies, and the relative ease of handling them when compared to
6695-431: The housefly larvae tissue and their offspring complete their development before the adult houseflies can emerge from the pupae. Hister beetles feed on housefly larvae in manure heaps and the predatory mite Macrocheles muscae domesticae consumes housefly eggs, each mite eating 20 eggs per day. Houseflies sometimes carry phoretic (nonparasitic) passengers, including mites such as Macrocheles muscaedomesticae and
6798-541: The housefly to speak of the brevity of life, as in William Blake 's 1794 poem " The Fly ", which deals with mortality subject to uncontrollable circumstances. Adult houseflies are usually 6 to 7 mm ( 1 ⁄ 4 to 9 ⁄ 32 in) long with a wingspan of 13 to 15 mm ( 1 ⁄ 2 to 19 ⁄ 32 in). The females tend to be larger winged than males, while males have relatively longer legs. Females tend to vary more in size and there
6901-449: The human's movements in slow motion with their higher flicker fusion rate . The mouthparts are specially adapted for a liquid diet; the mandibles and maxillae are reduced and not functional, and the other mouthparts form a retractable, flexible proboscis with an enlarged, fleshy tip, the labellum. This is a sponge-like structure that is characterized by many grooves, called pseudotracheae, which suck up fluids by capillary action . It
7004-431: The larval food-source and the larvae, which lack true limbs, develop in a protected environment, often inside their food source. Other species are ovoviviparous , opportunistically depositing hatched or hatching larvae instead of eggs on carrion , dung, decaying material, or open wounds of mammals. The pupa is a tough capsule from which the adult emerges when ready to do so; flies mostly have short lives as adults. Diptera
7107-417: The mouthparts into a lengthy proboscis , with which they can drink liquids, such as nectar . They have large compound eyes , and typically three simple eyes, ocelli . The forward margin of the hind wing bears a number of hooked bristles, or " hamuli ", which lock onto the fore wing, keeping them held together. The smaller species may have only two or three hamuli on each side, but the largest wasps may have
7210-473: The multiple origins of eusociality within this order. In many colonies of bees, ants, and wasps, worker females will remove eggs laid by other workers due to increased relatedness to direct siblings, a phenomenon known as worker policing . Another consequence is that hymenopterans may be more resistant to the deleterious effects of inbreeding . As males are haploid, any recessive genes will automatically be expressed, exposing them to natural selection. Thus,
7313-546: The name being derived from the Greek δι- di- "two", and πτερόν pteron "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced mechanosensory organs known as halteres , which act as high-speed sensors of rotational movement and allow dipterans to perform advanced aerobatics. Diptera is a large order containing more than 150,000 species including horse-flies , crane flies , hoverflies , mosquitoes and others. Flies have
7416-417: The nests of social insects. Some brachycerans are agricultural pests, some bite animals and humans and suck their blood, and some transmit diseases. Flies are adapted for aerial movement and typically have short and streamlined bodies. The first tagma of the fly, the head, bears the eyes, the antennae , and the mouthparts (the labrum, labium, mandible, and maxilla make up the mouthparts). The second tagma,
7519-405: The neural ganglia , and concentration of nerve tissue in the thorax, a feature that is most extreme in the highly derived Muscomorpha infraorder. Some flies such as the ectoparasitic Nycteribiidae and Streblidae are exceptional in having lost their wings and become flightless. The only other order of insects bearing a single pair of true, functional wings, in addition to any form of halteres, are
7622-596: The ninth segment bears a pair of claspers for copulation, and the 10th bears anal cerci in both sexes. A variety of species around the world appear similar to the housefly, such as the lesser house fly , Fannia canicularis ; the stable fly , Stomoxys calcitrans ; and other members of the genus Musca such as M. vetustissima , the Australian bush fly and several closely related taxa that include M. primitiva , M. shanghaiensis , M. violacea , and M. varensis . The systematic identification of species may require
7725-526: The occupant. The Hymenoptera are divided into two groups; the Symphyta which have no waist, and the Apocrita which have a narrow waist. The suborder Symphyta includes the sawflies , horntails , and parasitic wood wasps . The group may be paraphyletic , as it has been suggested that the family Orussidae may be the group from which the Apocrita arose. They have an unconstricted junction between
7828-655: The occupying Japanese troops had been vaccinated in advance. The ability of housefly larvae to feed and develop in a wide range of decaying organic matter is important for recycling of nutrients in nature. This could be exploited to combat ever-increasing amounts of waste. Housefly larvae can be mass-reared in a controlled manner in animal manure, reducing the bulk of waste and minimizing environmental risks of its disposal. Harvested maggots may be used as feed for animal nutrition. Houseflies can be controlled, at least to some extent, by physical, chemical, or biological means. Physical controls include screening with small mesh or
7931-492: The outer surface of the housefly may survive for a few hours, but those in the crop or gut can be viable for several days. Usually, too few bacteria are on the external surface of the houseflies (except perhaps for Shigella ) to cause infection, so the main routes to human infection are through the housefly's regurgitation and defecation. A number of bacterial endosymbionts have however been detected in sequence-based identification from whole genome sequences extracted from flies,
8034-403: The raised concentration of carbon dioxide that occurs near large animals. Some tachinid flies (Ormiinae) which are parasitoids of bush crickets , have sound receptors to help them locate their singing hosts. Diptera have one pair of fore wings on the mesothorax and a pair of halteres , or reduced hind wings, on the metathorax . A further adaptation for flight is the reduction in number of
8137-422: The recombination rate during meiosis is reduced more than tenfold. In W. auropunctata the reduction is 45 fold. Single queen colonies of the narrow headed ant Formica exsecta illustrate the possible deleterious effects of increased homozygosity. Colonies of this species which have more homozygous queens will age more rapidly, resulting in reduced colony survival. Different species of Hymenoptera show
8240-413: The same meiosis fuse to form a diploid zygote. This process tends to maintain heterozygosity in the passage of the genome from mother to daughter. It is found in several ant species including the desert ant Cataglyphis cursor , the clonal raider ant Cerapachys biroi , the predaceous ant Platythyrea punctata , and the electric ant (little fire ant) Wasmannia auropunctata . It also occurs in
8343-506: The second largest group of pollinators after the Hymenoptera (bees, wasps and relatives). In wet and colder environments flies are significantly more important as pollinators. Compared to bees, they need less food as they do not need to provision their young. Many flowers that bear low nectar and those that have evolved trap pollination depend on flies. It is thought that some of the earliest pollinators of plants may have been flies. The greatest diversity of gall forming insects are found among
8446-615: The sex locus and develop as a male, instead. This is especially likely to occur in an individual whose parents were siblings or other close relatives. Diploid males are known to be produced by inbreeding in many ant, bee, and wasp species. Diploid biparental males are usually sterile but a few species that have fertile diploid males are known. One consequence of haplodiploidy is that females on average have more genes in common with their sisters than they do with their daughters. Because of this, cooperation among kindred females may be unusually advantageous and has been hypothesized to contribute to
8549-417: The sex of her offspring. This phenomenon is called haplodiploidy . However, the actual genetic mechanisms of haplodiploid sex determination may be more complex than simple chromosome number. In many Hymenoptera, sex is determined by a single gene locus with many alleles. In these species, haploids are male and diploids heterozygous at the sex locus are female, but occasionally a diploid will be homozygous at
8652-438: The suborder Symphyta , the eruciform larvae resemble caterpillars in appearance, and like them, typically feed on leaves. They have large chewing mandibles, three pairs of thoracic limbs, and, in most cases, six or eight abdominal prolegs . Unlike caterpillars, however, the prolegs have no grasping spines, and the antennae are reduced to mere stubs. Symphytan larvae that are wood borers or stem borers have no abdominal legs and
8755-399: The suborder (and clade) Apocrita , characterized by a constriction between the first and second abdominal segments called a wasp-waist ( petiole ), also involving the fusion of the first abdominal segment to the thorax . Also, the larvae of all Apocrita lack legs, prolegs, or ocelli. The hindgut of the larvae also remains closed during development, with feces being stored inside the body, with
8858-496: The surface. Houseflies land on a ceiling by flying straight towards it; just before landing, they make a half roll and point all six legs at the surface, absorbing the shock with the front legs and sticking a moment later with the other four. The thorax is a shade of gray, sometimes even black, with four dark, longitudinal bands of even width on the dorsal surface. The whole body is covered with short hairs. Like other Diptera , houseflies have only one pair of wings ; what would be
8961-425: The surface. Aerosols can be used in buildings to "zap" houseflies, but outside applications are only temporarily effective. Residual sprays on walls or resting sites have a longer-lasting effect. Many strains of housefly have become immune to the most commonly used insecticides . Resistance to carbamates and organophosphates is conferred by variation in acetylcholinesterase genes. M. domestica has achieved
9064-427: The thoracic legs are smaller than those of non-borers. With rare exceptions, larvae of the suborder Apocrita have no legs and are maggotlike in form, and are adapted to life in a protected environment. This may be the body of a host organism, or a cell in a nest, where the adults will care for the larva. In parasitic forms, the head is often greatly reduced and partially withdrawn into the prothorax (anterior part of
9167-520: The thorax and abdomen. The larvae are herbivorous, free-living, and eruciform , usually with three pairs of true legs, prolegs (on every segment, unlike Lepidoptera ) and ocelli . The prolegs do not have crochet hooks at the ends unlike the larvae of the Lepidoptera. The legs and prolegs tend to be reduced or absent in larvae that mine or bore plant tissue, as well as in larvae of Pamphiliidae . The wasps , bees , and ants together make up
9270-524: The thorax). Sense organs appear to be poorly developed, with no ocelli, very small or absent antennae, and toothlike, sicklelike, or spinelike mandibles. They are also unable to defecate until they reach adulthood due to having an incomplete digestive tract (a blind sac), presumably to avoid contaminating their environment. The larvae of stinging forms ( Aculeata ) generally have 10 pairs of spiracles, or breathing pores, whereas parasitic forms usually have nine pairs present. Among most or all hymenopterans, sex
9373-549: The time, and dipteran mouthparts are well-adapted to softening and lapping up the crusted residues. The basal clades in the Diptera include the Deuterophlebiidae and the enigmatic Nymphomyiidae . Three episodes of evolutionary radiation are thought to have occurred based on the fossil record. Many new species of lower Diptera developed in the Triassic , about 220 million years ago. Many lower Brachycera appeared in
9476-412: The traditional Navajo religion, Big Fly is an important spirit being. William Blake 's 1794 poem "The Fly" , part of his collection Songs of Experience , deals with the insect's mortality, subject to uncontrollable circumstances, just like humans. Emily Dickinson 's 1855 poem "I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died" speaks of flies in the context of death. In William Golding 's 1954 novel Lord of
9579-432: The tropics and subtropics, more than 20. Houseflies play an important ecological role in breaking down and recycling organic matter. Adults are mainly carnivorous ; their primary food is animal matter, carrion , and feces , but they also consume milk, sugary substances, and rotting fruit and vegetables. Solid foods are softened with saliva before being sucked up. They can be opportunistic blood feeders. Houseflies have
9682-500: The use of region-specific taxonomic keys and can require dissections of the male reproductive parts for confirmation. The housefly is probably the insect with the widest distribution in the world; it is largely associated with humans and has accompanied them around the globe. It is present in the Arctic , as well as in the tropics, where it is abundant. It is present in all populated parts of Europe , Asia , Africa , Australasia , and
9785-473: The use of vertical strips of plastic or strings of beads in doorways to prevent entry of houseflies into buildings. Fans to create air movement or air barriers in doorways can deter houseflies from entering, and food premises often use fly-killing devices ; sticky fly papers hanging from the ceiling are effective, but electric " bug zappers " should not be used directly above food-handling areas because of scattering of contaminated insect parts. Another approach
9888-685: The warmer the temperature, the faster they grow. In general, fresh swine and chicken manures present the best conditions for the developing larvae, reducing the larval period and increasing the size of the pupae. Cattle, goat, and horse manures produce fewer, smaller pupae, while mature swine manure composted with water content under 30%, approached 100% mortality of the larvae. Pupae can range from about 8–20 milligrams (0.12–0.31 gr) in weight under different conditions. The life cycle can be completed in seven to ten days under optimal conditions, but may take up to two months in adverse circumstances. In temperate regions, 12 generations may occur per year, and in
9991-407: The way sex is determined is usually fixed within a species . The housefly is, however, thought to exhibit multiple mechanisms for sex determination, such as male heterogamy (like most insects and mammals ), female heterogamy (like birds), and maternal control over offspring sex. This is because a male-determining gene ( Mdmd ) can be found on most or all housefly chromosomes. Sexual differentiation
10094-680: The winter. The adults feed on a variety of liquid or semi-liquid substances, as well as solid materials which have been softened by their saliva . They can carry pathogens on their bodies and in their feces, contaminate food, and contribute to the transfer of food-borne illnesses , while, in numbers, they can be physically annoying. For these reasons, they are considered pests . Houseflies, with short life cycles and ease with which they can be maintained, have been found useful for laboratory research into aging and sex determination . Houseflies appear in literature from Ancient Greek myth and Aesop's " The Impertinent Insect " onwards. Authors sometimes choose
10197-471: The world apart from Antarctica. They include many familiar insects such as house flies, blow flies, mosquitoes, gnats, black flies, midges and fruit flies. More than 150,000 have been formally described and the actual species diversity is much greater, with the flies from many parts of the world yet to be studied intensively. The suborder Nematocera include generally small, slender insects with long antennae such as mosquitoes, gnats, midges and crane-flies, while
10300-607: The world, spread foodborne illnesses . Flies can be annoyances especially in some parts of the world where they can occur in large numbers, buzzing and settling on the skin or eyes to bite or seek fluids. Larger flies such as tsetse flies and screwworms cause significant economic harm to cattle. Blowfly larvae, known as gentles , and other dipteran larvae, known more generally as maggots , are used as fishing bait , as food for carnivorous animals, and in medicine in debridement , to clean wounds . Dipterans are holometabolans , insects that undergo radical metamorphosis. They belong to
10403-430: Was found in one study to increase with age and reduce life expectancy supporting the hypothesis that oxidative molecular damage is a causal factor in senescence (aging). The housefly is an object of biological research, partly for its variable sex-determination mechanism. Although a wide variety of sex-determination mechanisms exists in nature (e.g. male and female heterogamy , haplodiploidy , environmental factors),
10506-488: Was given in 1776 by the Danish entomologist Johan Christian Fabricius in his Genera Insectorum . Each female housefly can lay up to 500 eggs in her lifetime, in several batches of about 75 to 150. The eggs are white and are about 1.2 mm ( 1 ⁄ 16 in) in length, and they are deposited by the fly in a suitable place, usually dead and decaying organic matter, such as food waste, carrion, or feces . Within
10609-677: Was the key to disease control continued, with extensive use of insecticidal spraying well until the mid-1950s, declining only after the introduction of Salk's vaccine . In China, Mao Zedong 's Four Pests Campaign between 1958 and 1962 exhorted the people to catch and kill houseflies, along with rats, mosquitoes, and sparrows. During the Second World War , the Japanese worked on entomological warfare techniques under Shirō Ishii . Japanese Yagi bombs developed at Pingfan consisted of two compartments, one with houseflies and another with
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