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 A female housefly
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| Musca domestica Linnaeus, 1758 |
The housefly (also house fly, house-fly or common housefly), Musca domestica, is the most common of all flies fluttering in homes, and indeed one of the most widely distributed insects; it is a pest that carries and transmits serious diseases. Carl Linnaeus (Latinized as Carolus Linnaeus, also known after his ennoblement as, May 23 new style (13 May old style 1707 who laid the foundations for The book Systema Naturae was one of the major works of the Swedish doctor of medicine Carolus Linnaeus. True flies are Insects of the Order Diptera ( Greek: di = two and pteron = wing possessing a single pair of A pest is an organism which has characteristics that are regarded by Humans as injurious or unwanted
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Physical description
The adults are 6-9 mm long. The Millimetre ( American spelling: millimeter, symbol mm) is a unit of Length in the Metric system, equal to Their thorax is gray, with four dark longitudinal dark lines on the back, the underside of their abdomen is yellow, and their whole body is covered with hair. The thorax is a division of an Animal 's body that lies between the head and the Abdomen. The females are slightly larger than the males and have a much larger space between their red compound eyes.
Like most Diptera (meaning "two-winged"), houseflies have only one pair of wings; the hind pair is reduced to small halteres that aid in flight stability. True flies are Insects of the Order Diptera ( Greek: di = two and pteron = wing possessing a single pair of Insect wings are outgrowths of the Insect Exoskeleton that enable insects to fly. This article concerns insect anatomy For halteres as used in ancient sports see Halteres (ancient Greece Halteres (hælˈtɪəriːz singular Flight is the process by which an object achieves sustained movement either through the Air (or movement beyond Earth's atmosphere, in the case of Characteristically, the media vein (M1+2 or fourth long vein of the wing) shows a sharp upward bend. Insect wings are outgrowths of the Insect Exoskeleton that enable insects to fly.
Species that appear similar to the housefly include:
- The lesser house fly, Fannia canicularis, is somewhat smaller, more slender, and the media vein is straight. The lesser house fly or little house fly, Fannia canicularis, is somewhat smaller (3
- The stable fly, Stomoxys calcitrans, has piercing mouthparts and the media vein is only slightly curved. Stomoxys calcitrans is commonly called the "stable fly" "horse fly" or "dog fly" The mouthparts of Arthropods have evolved into a number of forms each adapted to a different style or mode of feeding
Houseflies are subjects of study by scientists all over the world.
Life cycle
Each female fly can lay over 9,000 eggs. In most Birds and Reptiles an egg ( Latin ovum) is the Zygote, resulting from Fertilization of the Ovum. The eggs are white and are about 1. 2 mm in length. Within a day, larvae (maggots) hatch from the eggs; they live and feed in (usually dead and decaying) organic material, such as garbage or faeces. Maggot is the common name of the Larval phase of development in insects of the order Diptera (flies Feces, faeces, or fæces (see spelling differences) is a waste product from an animal's digestive tract expelled through the Anus They are pale-whitish, 3-9 mm long, thinner at the mouth end, and have no legs. At the end of their third instar, the maggots crawl to a dry cool place and transform into pupae, colored reddish or brown and about 8 mm long. An instar is a developmental stage of Arthropods, such as Insects, between each moult ( ecdysis) until sexual maturity is reached A pupa ( Latin pupa for doll pl pupae or pupas) is the life stage of some Insects undergoing transformation The adult flies then emerge from the pupae. (This whole cycle is known as complete metamorphosis. Metamorphosis is a Biological process by which an Animal physically develops after Birth or hatching involving a conspicuous and relatively ) The adults live from half a month to a month in the wild, or longer in benign laboratory conditions. After having emerged from the pupae, the flies cease to grow; small flies are not young flies, but are indeed the result of getting insufficient food during the larval stage.
Some 36 hours after having emerged from the pupa, the female is receptive for mating. The male mounts her from behind to inject sperm. The term sperm is derived from the Greek word (σπέρμα sperma (meaning "seed" and refers to the male reproductive cells. Normally the female mates only once, storing the sperm to use it repeatedly for laying several sets of eggs. Males are territorial: they will defend a certain territory against other males and will attempt to mount any females that enter that territory.
The flies depend on warm temperatures; generally, the warmer the temperature the faster the flies will develop. In winter, most of them survive in the larval or the pupa stage in some protected warm location.
Houseflies can take in only liquid foods. They spit out saliva on solid foods to predigest it, and then suck it back inside. For the band see Saliva (band; for the village in Azerbaijan see Səliva. They also regurgitate partly digested matter and pass it again to the abdomen.
The flies can walk on vertical planes, and can even hang upside-down from ceilings. This is accomplished with the surface tension of liquids secreted by glands near their feet. For the work of fiction see Surface Tension (short story. Surface tension is a property of the surface of a Liquid that causes it to A gland is an organ in an animal's body that synthesizes a substance for release such as Hormones or Breast milk, often into the Bloodstream When they are not flying, flies continually preen themselves, cleaning their eyes with their forelegs and dusting off their legs by rubbing them together. They do this because most of their taste and smell receptors lie on the hair of their legs.
Flies have a very highly-evolved evasion reaction which helps to ensure their survival. It is possible to confuse a fly's evasion system by swatting it with two objects simultaneously from different directions. The holes in a fly swatter minimize the air current that warns the fly as being hit, whilst reducing air resistance and increasing speed of the swat. A flyswatter is a hand-held device for swatting flies and other Insects Though the modern flyswatter usually just usually consists of a small rectangular This evasion reaction can also be used against the fly.
Houseflies release a pheromone called muscalure that serves both as aggregation and sexual attraction purposes. A pheromone (from Greek φέρω phero "to bear" + ‘ορμόνη " Hormone " is a Chemical that triggers a natural The SWARM Remote Weapon System (Stabilised Weapon And Reconnaissance Mount is a fully armored Remote weapon system designed and built by the Thales Group in NOTICE TO WOULD-BE-ROMEOS***************
The housefly is an object of biological research, mainly because of one remarkable quality: the sex determination mechanism. A sex-determination system is a biological system that determines the development of sexual characteristics in an Organism. Although a wide variety of sex determination mechanisms exist in nature (e. g. male and female heterogamy, haplodiploidy, environmental factors) the way sex is determined is usually fixed within one species. The haplodiploid sex-determination system determines the sex of the offspring of many Hymenopterans ( Bees Ants and Wasps, and coleopterans ( In Biology, a species is one of the basic units of Biological classification and a Taxonomic rank. However, the housefly exhibits many different mechanisms for sex determination, such as male heterogamy (like most insects and mammals), female heterogamy (like birds) and maternal control over offspring sex. Insects ( Class Insecta) are a major group of Arthropods and the most diverse group of Animals on the Earth with over a million described Mammals ( class Mammalia) are a class of Vertebrate Animals characterized by the presence of Sweat glands, including sweat glands This makes the housefly one of the most suitable species to study the evolution of sex determination. eVolution is the third Album by eLDee, it was due to be released in 2008
Evolution
Even though the order of flies (Diptera) is much older, true houseflies evolved in the beginning of the Cenozoic era, some 65 million years ago. True flies are Insects of the Order Diptera ( Greek: di = two and pteron = wing possessing a single pair of The Cenozoic (also Caenozoic or Cainozoic) Era (ˌsiːnəˈzoʊɪk/ /ˌsɛn- (meaning "new life" ( Greek ( kainos) "new" They are thought to have originated in the southern Palearctic region, particularly the Middle East. The Palearctic or Palaearctic is one of the eight Ecozones dividing the Earth surface Because of their close, commensal relationship with man, they probably owe their worldwide dispersal to co-migration with humans. In Ecology, commensalism is a kind of symbiotic relationship between two organisms where one benefits and the other is not significantly harmed or helped (like a bird [1][2]
Flies and humans
In colder climates, houseflies survive only with humans. They have a tendency to aggregate and are difficult to be dispelled. They are capable of carrying over 100 pathogens, such as typhoid, cholera, Salmonella, bacillary dysentery, tuberculosis, anthrax, ophthalmia, and parasitic worms. A pathogen (from Greek πάθος pathos "suffering passion" and γἰγνομαι (γεν- gignomai (gen- "I give birth to" infectious Typhoid fever, also known as enteric fever, bilious fever, Yellow Jack or commonly just typhoid, is an illness caused by the Bacterium Cholera, sometimes known as Asiatic cholera or epidemic cholera, is an infectious Gastroenteritis caused by the Bacterium Salmonella is a Genus of rod-shaped Gram-negative enterobacteria that causes Typhoid fever, Paratyphoid fever Shigellosis, also known as bacillary dysentery in its most severe manifestation is a Foodborne illness caused by infection by bacteria of the genus Tuberculosis (abbreviated as TB for tubercle bacillus or T u' b' erculosis Bacillus --> is a common Anthrax is an acute Disease in humans and animals caused by the bacterium Bacillus anthracis which is highly lethal in some forms See also Parasitic worm (disambiguation Parasitic worms or helminths are a division of eukaroytic Parasites that unlike external parasites such The flies in poorer and lower-hygienic areas usually carry more pathogens. Hygiene refers to practices associated with ensuring good health and cleanliness Some strains have become immune to most common insecticides. An insecticide is a Pesticide used against Insects in all developmental forms
House flies feed on liquid or semi-liquid substances beside solid material which has been softened by saliva or vomit. Because of their high intake of food, they deposit faeces constantly, one of the factors that makes the insect a very dangerous and heinous carrier of pathogens. It's the most important filth fly. Although they are domestic flies, usually confined to the human habitations, they can fly for several miles from the breeding place. They are active only in daytime and rest at night e. g. at the corners of rooms, ceiling hangings. . etc.
Housefly as a vector of disease
Nechanical transmission of organisms on its hairs, mouth parts, vomitus and faeces:
- parasitic diseases: Cysts of protozoa e. g. E, Histolytica, G. Lamblia and eggs of helminths e. g. :Ascaris Lumbricoides, Trichuros Trichura, Haemenolypes Nana, Enterobius Vermicularis.
- bacterial diseases: Typhoid, cholera, dysentery, pyogenic cocci. . . etc.
- Viruses: Enteroviruses: Poliomyelitis, infective hepatitis (a & e). . etc
Housefly as a causative agent of diseases
Accidental Myiasis.
References
External links
- Housefly from the University of Florida
- Many annotated images
- Article on the housefly, by Anthony DeBartolo, Chicago Tribune
- From The Straight Dope website:
- Dübendorfer A, Hediger M, Burghardt G, Bopp D. "Musca domestica, a window on the evolution of sex-determining mechanisms in insects". Int J Dev Biol. 2002, 46(1):75-9.
- Brian M. Wiegmann, David K. Yeates, Jeffrey L. Thorne, Hirohisa Kishino "Time Flies, a New Molecular Time-Scale for Brachyceran Fly Evolution Without a Clock". Systematic Biology. 2003, 52(6):745-756
- Pictorial presentation of life-cycle
- The House Fly and How to Suppress It, by L. O. Howard and F. C. Bishopp. U. S. Department of Agriculture Bulletin No. 1408, 1928, from Project Gutenberg
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