Housefly - wikipedia Housefly Not to be confused with horse - fly. Housefly Conservation status Not evaluated ( IUCN 3.1 ) Scientific classification Kingdom : Animalia Phylum : Arthropoda Class : Insecta Order : Diptera Section : Schizophora Family : Muscidae Genus : Musca Species : M. domestica Binomial name Musca domestica Linnaeus, 1758 Subspecies M. d. calleva Walker, 1849 M. d. domestica Linnaeus, 1758 The housefly ( Musca domestica ) is a fly of the suborder Cyclorrhapha. It is believed to have evolved in the Cenozoic era, possibly in the Middle East, and has spread all over the world as a commensal of humans. It is the most common fly species found in houses. Adults are grey 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 further apart in the slightly larger female. The female housefly usually mates only once and stores the sperm for later use. She lays batches of about 100 eggs on decaying organic matter such as food waste, carrion or faeces. These soon hatch into legless white larvae, maggots. After 2 to 5 days of development, these metamorphose into reddish - brown pupae, about 8 mm ( 0.3 in ) long. Adult flies normally live for 2 to 4 weeks, but can hibernate during 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 faeces, contaminate food and contribute to the transfer of food - borne illnesses. In numbers, they can be physically annoying and for these reasons they are considered pests. Houseflies have been used in the laboratory in research into ageing and sex determination. Flies appear in literature from Ancient Greek mythology and Aesop 's The Impertinent Insect onwards. Authors sometimes choose the fly to speak of the brevity of life, as in William Blake 's 1794 poem The Fly, which deals with mortality subject to uncontrollable circumstances. Contents 1 Description 2 Distribution 3 Evolution and taxonomy 4 Life cycle 5 Ecology 6 Relationship with humans 6.1 As a disease vector 6.2 In warfare 6.3 In waste management 6.4 Control 6.5 In science 6.6 In literature 7 References 8 Further reading 9 External links Description Head of a female housefly with two large compound eyes and three ocelli Adult houseflies are usually 6 to 7 millimetres ( 0.24 to 0.28 inches ) long with a wingspan of 13 to 15 millimetres ( 0.5 to 0.6 inches ). The females tend to be larger winged than males while males have relatively longer legs. Females tend to vary more in size and there 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. There are three simple eyes ( ocelli ) and a pair of short antennae. Flies process visual information around seven times more quickly than do humans, enabling them to identify and avoid attempts to catch or swat them, since they effectively see the human 's movements in slow motion with their higher flicker fusion rate. Mouthparts, showing the pseudotracheae, semi-tubular grooves ( dark parallel bands ) used for sucking up liquid food The mouthparts are specially adapted for a liquid diet ; the mandibles and maxillae are reduced and non-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 characterised by many grooves, called pseudotracheae, which suck up fluids by capillary action. It 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. Flies 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 a pair of claws, and below them are two adhesive pads, pulvilli, enabling the fly to walk up smooth walls and ceilings using Van der Waals forces. The claws help the fly to unstick the foot for the next step. Flies 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 the surface. Flies 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 also. Wing, under 250x magnification 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 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 ten segments which bear spiracles for respiration. In males, the ninth segment bears a pair of claspers for copulation, and the tenth bears anal cerci in both sexes. Micrograph of tarsus of leg, showing claws and bristles including the central one between the two pulvilli known as the empodium. 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 Musca genus 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 the use of region specific taxonomic keys and can require dissections of the male reproductive parts for confirmation. Distribution The housefly is probably the insect with the widest distribution in the world ; it is largely associated with man and has accompanied him around the globe. It is present in the Arctic circle as well as in the tropics, where it is abundant. It is present in all populated parts of Europe, Asia, Australasia and the Americas. Evolution and Taxonomy. Even 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 and allies ), and more distantly to the Hippoboscoidea ( louse flies and allies ). They are thought to have originated in the southern Palearctic region, particularly 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 was given in 1776 by the Danish entomologist Johan Christian Fabricius in his Genera Insectorum. Nematocera Other Nematocera ( crane flies, mosquitos etc ) Brachycera Tabanomorpha ( horse flies, etc ) Muscomorpha Other Muscomorpha ( robber flies, etc ) Syrphoidea ( hoverflies ) Schizophora Acalyptratae ( marsh flies, etc ) Calyptratae Hippoboscoidea ( louse flies, bat flies etc ) Oestroidea ( blow flies, flesh flies, etc ) Muscoidea Fannidae, Scathophagidae, Anthomyiidae Muscidae Azellinae and allies Muscinae Stomoxyini Polletina Morellia Musca Cladogram showing higher level classification and position of Musca within the family Muscidae based on Couri and Carvalho 2003. Life cycle Houseflies mating Each female housefly can lay up to 500 eggs in a lifetime, in several batches of about 75 to 150. The eggs are white and are about 1.2 mm ( 0.05 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 faeces. Within a day, larvae ( maggots ) hatch from the eggs ; they live and feed where they were laid. They are pale - whitish, 3 to 9 mm ( 0.12 to 0.35 in ) long, thinner at the mouth end, and legless. Larval development takes from two weeks, under optimal conditions, to thirty days or more in cooler conditions. The larvae avoid light ; the interior of heaps of animal manure provide nutrient - rich sites and ideal growing conditions, warm, moist and dark. Larva and adult, by Amedeo John Engel Terzi ( 1872 -- 1956 ) At the end of their fourth instar, the larvae crawl to a dry, cool place and transform into pupae. The pupal case is cylindrical with rounded ends, about 1.2 mm ( 0.05 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 from two to six days at 35 ° C ( 95 ° F ) but may take twenty days or more at 14 ° C ( 57 ° F ). When metamorphosis is complete, the adult fly 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. The adult housefly lives for from two weeks to a month in the wild, or longer in benign laboratory conditions. 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 a pheromone, ( Z ) - 9 - Tricosene ( muscalure ). This cuticular hydrocarbon is not released into the air and males sense them 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 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, the warmer the temperature, the faster they will grow. In general, fresh swine and chicken manure present the best conditions for the developing larvae, reducing the larval period and increasing the size of the pupae. Cow, goat and horse manure produce fewer, smaller pupae, while fully composted swine manure, with a water content of under 40 %, produces none at all. Pupae can range from about 8 to 20 milligrams ( 0.0003 to 0.0007 ounces ) 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, there may be twelve generations per year, and in the tropics and subtropics, more than twenty. Ecology Housefly pupae killed by parasitoid wasp larvae. Each pupa has one hole through which a single adult wasp has emerged ; the wasp larvae fed on the housefly larva. 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 faeces, 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 a mutualistic relationship with the bacterium Klebsiella oxytoca which can live on the surface of housefly eggs and deter fungi which compete with the fly 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 the folds of curtains. They arouse in the spring when the weather warms up, and search out somewhere 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 Sphalangia cameroni ; these lay their eggs in the fly larvae tissue and their offspring complete their development before the adult flies 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 twenty eggs per day. Housefly killed by the pathogenic fungus Entomophthora muscae Houseflies sometimes carry phoretic ( non-parasitic ) passengers including mites such as Macrocheles muscaedomesticae, and 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 fly in about five days. Infected flies 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 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. Relationship with humans Flies are a nuisance, disturbing people at leisure and at work, but it is principally because of their habits of contaminating foodstuffs that they are disliked. 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 faeces, creating a health hazard. However, fly larvae are as nutritious as fish meal, and could be used to convert waste to feed for fish and livestock. Flies have been used in art and artefacts in many cultures. In 16th and 17th century European vanitas paintings, flies sometimes occur as Memento mori. They may also be used for other effects as in the Flemish painting, the Master of Frankfurt ( 1496 ). Fly amulets were popular in ancient Egypt. As a disease vector Housefly lapping up food from a plate Houseflies can fly for several miles from the breeding place, carrying a wide variety of organisms on their hairs, mouthparts, vomitus and faeces. Parasites carried include cysts of protozoa e.g. Entamoeba histolytica, Giardia lamblia and eggs of helminths, e.g., Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura, Hymenolepis nana, Enterobius vermicularis. Houseflies do not serve as 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 a hundred 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 - carrying organisms on the outer surface of the fly may survive for a few hours, but those in the crop or gut can be viable for several days. There are usually too few bacteria on the external surface of the flies ( except perhaps for Shigella ) to cause infection and the main routes to human infection are through the fly 's regurgitation and defecation. In the early twentieth century, Canadian public health workers believed that the control of flies was important in controlling the spread of tuberculosis. A `` swat that fly '' contest was held for children Montreal in 1912. Flies were targeted in 1916, when a polio epidemic broke out in the eastern United States. The belief that fly control was 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 flies, along with rats, mosquitoes and sparrows. In warfare Further information : Entomological warfare Philadelphia Department of Health poster warning the public of fly hazards ( c. 1942 ) 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 a bacterial slurry that coated the flies prior to release. Vibrio cholerae which cause cholera was the choice and used in China in Baoshan in 1942, and in northern Shandong in 1943. Baoshan had been used by the Allies and bombing produced epidemics that killed 60,000 people in the initial stages reaching a radius of 200 km which finally took a toll of 200,000 victims. The Shandong attack killed 210,000 ; the occupying Japanese troops had been vaccinated in advance. In waste management 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. Control Detail of a 1742 painting by Frans van der Mijn that uses a fly in a Renaissance allegory of touch theme Flies can be controlled, at least to some extent, by physical, chemical or biological means. Physical controls include screening with small mesh or the use of vertical strips of plastic or strings of beads in doorways to prevent entry of flies into buildings. Fans to create air movement or air barriers in doorways can deter flies from entering, and food premises often use ultra-violet light traps that electrocute insects. Sticky fly papers hanging from the ceiling can also be effective. Another approach 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 fly - breeding site, but if garbage is covered by a layer of earth, 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 the surface. Aerosols can be used in buildings to `` zap '' flies, 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. 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 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 flies breed so fast that the natural enemies are unable to keep up. In Science The ease of culturing houseflies, and the relative ease of handling them when compared to 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 six or diploid twelve. Because the somatic tissue of the housefly consists of long - lived post-mitotic cells, it can be used as an informative model system for understanding cumulative age - related cellular alterations. Oxidative DNA damage 8 - hydroxydeoxyguanosine ( 8 - OHdG ) in houseflies 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 ). William Blake 's illustration of `` The Fly '' in Songs of Innocence and of Experience, 1794 The housefly is an object of biological research, partly for their variable sex determination mechanism. 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 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. The exact mechanism of sex determination involved is unresolved, but sexual differentiation is controlled as in other insects by an ancient developmental switch, doublesex, which is regulated by the transformer protein in many different insects. The antimicrobial peptides produced by housefly maggots are of pharmacological interest. In the 1970s, the aircraft modeller Frank Ehling constructed miniature balsa wood aircraft powered by live houseflies. Studies of tethered flies have helped in the understanding of insect vision, sensory perception and flight control. In literature 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 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 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 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. References Jump up ^ Bryant, Edwin H ( 1977 ). `` Morphometric Adaptation of the Housefly, Musca Domestica L., in the United States ''. Evolution. 31 ( 3 ) : 580 -- 596. doi : 10.1111 / j. 1558 - 5646.1977. tb01046. x. PMID 28563484. Jump up ^ Alves, Sueli María ; Bélo, Muracy ( August 2002 ). `` Morphometric variations in the housefly, Musca domestica ( L. ) with latitude ''. Genetica. 115 ( 3 ) : 243 -- 251. ISSN 0016 - 6707. PMID 12440563. ^ Jump up to : Hewitt, C. Gordon ( 2011 ). The House - Fly : Musca Domestica Linn : Its Structure, Habits, Development, Relation to Disease and Control. Cambridge University Press. pp. 5 -- 6. ISBN 978 - 0 - 521 - 23299 - 9. Jump up ^ Johnston, Ian ( 15 September 2013 ). `` Q. Why is it so hard to swat a housefly ? A. It sees you coming in slow motion ''. The Independent. Retrieved 4 December 2017. Jump up ^ Healy, Kevin ; McNally, Luke ; Ruxton, Graeme D. ; Cooper, Natalie ; Jackson, Andrew L. ( 2013 ). `` Metabolic rate and body size are linked with perception of temporal information ''. Animal Behaviour. 86 ( 4 ) : 685 -- 696. doi : 10.1016 / j. anbehav. 2013.06. 018. PMID 24109147. Jump up ^ Gullan, P.J. ; Cranston, P.S. ( 2010 ). The Insects : An Outline of Entomology ( 4th ed. ). Wiley. pp. 41, 519. ISBN 978 - 1 - 118 - 84615 - 5. CS1 maint : Multiple names : authors list ( link ) ^ Jump up to : Mehlhorn, Heinz ( 2001 ). Encyclopedic Reference of Parasitology : Biology, Structure, Function. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 310. ISBN 978 - 3 - 540 - 66819 - 0. Jump up ^ Dessì, Giancarlo ( 8 January 2017 ). `` Morphology and anatomy of adults : Mouthparts ''. Flies. Retrieved 27 September 2017. Jump up ^ Deonier, C.C. ; Richardson, C.H. ( 1935 ). `` The Tarsal Chemoreceptor Response of the Housefly, Musca Domestica L., to Sucrose and Levulose ''. Annals of the Entomological Society of America. 28 ( 4 ) : 467 -- 474. doi : 10.1093 / aesa / 28.4. 467. Jump up ^ Ray, C. Claiborne ( 17 December 2002 ). `` Q&A ; Gleeful Flies ? ''. The New York Times. Retrieved 4 December 2017. Jump up ^ Gorb, Stanislav N. ( 2005 ). `` Uncovering Insect Stickiness : Structure and Properties of Hairy Attachment Devices ''. American Entomologist. 51 ( 1 ) : 35. doi : 10.1093 / ae / 51.1. 31. ^ Jump up to : Dahlem, Gregory A. ( 2009 ). `` House Fly ( Musca domestica ) ''. In Resh, Vincent H. ; Carde, Ring T. Encyclopedia of Insects ( 2 ed. ). Elsevier. pp. 469 -- 470. ^ Jump up to : Sanchez - Arroyo, Hussein ; Capinera, John L. ( 20 April 2017 ). `` House fly : Musca domestica ''. Featured Creatures. Retrieved 20 September 2017. CS1 maint : Multiple names : authors list ( link ) Jump up ^ West ( 1951 ) : 161 - 167. Jump up ^ Paterson, H. E ( 2009 ). `` The Musca domestica complex in Sri Lanka ''. Journal of Entomology Series B, Taxonomy. 43 ( 2 ) : 247. doi : 10.1111 / j. 1365 - 3113.1975. tb00134. x. Jump up ^ Tumrasvin, Watanasak ; Shinonaga, Satoshi ( 1977 ). `` Report of Species Belonging to the Genus Musca Linné, Including the Taxonomic Key ( Diptera : Muscidae ) '' ( PDF ). Bull. Tokyo Med. Dent. Univ. 24 : 209 -- 218. Jump up ^ Wiegmann, B.M. ; Yeates, DK ; Thorne, JL ; Kishino, H ( December 2003 ). `` Time flies, a new molecular time - scale for brachyceran fly evolution without a clock ''. Systematic Biology. 52 ( 6 ) : 745 -- 56. doi : 10.1093 / sysbio / 52.6. 745. PMID 14668115. Jump up ^ Marquez, J.G. ; Krafsur, E.S. ( July 2002 ), `` Gene Flow Among Geographically Diverse Housefly Populations ( Musca domestica L. ) : A Worldwide Survey of Mitochondrial Diversity '', Journal of Heredity, 93 ( 4 ) : 254 -- 259, doi : 10.1093 / jhered / 93.4. 254 Jump up ^ Pont, A.C. ( 1981 ). `` The Linnaean species of the families Fanniidae, Anthomyiidae and Muscidae ( Insecta : Diptera ) ''. Biological journal of the Linnean Society. 15 ( 2 ) : 165 -- 175. doi : 10.1111 / j. 1095 - 8312.1981. tb00756. x. Jump up ^ Wiegmann, B.M. ; Trautwein, M.D. ; Winkler, I.S. ; Barr, N.B. ; Kim, J. - W. ; Lambkin, C. ; Bertone, M.A. ; Cassel, B.K. ; et al. ( 2011 ). `` Episodic radiations in the fly tree of life ''. PNAS. 108 ( 14 ) : 5690 -- 5695. Bibcode : 2011PNAS... 108.5690 W. doi : 10.1073 / pnas. 1012675108. PMC 3078341. PMID 21402926. Jump up ^ Yeates, David K. ; Meier, Rudolf ; Wiegmann, Brian. `` Phylogeny of True Flies ( Diptera ) : A 250 Million Year Old Success Story in Terrestrial Diversification ''. Flytree. Retrieved 24 May 2016. Jump up ^ `` FLYTREE ''. Illinois Natural History Survey. Retrieved 22 July 2016. Jump up ^ Couri, M.S. ; Carvalho, C.J.B. ( May 2003 ). `` Systematic relations among Philornis Meinert, Passeromyia Rodhain & Villeneuve and allied genera ( Diptera, Muscidae ) ''. Brazilian Journal of Biology. 63 ( 2 ) : 223. doi : 10.1590 / S1519 - 69842003000200007. Jump up ^ Thom, C. ; Gilley, D. ; Hooper, J. ; Esch, H. ( 2007 ). `` The scent of the waggle dance ''. PLoS Biology. 5 ( 9 ) : e228. doi : 10.1371 / journal. pbio. 0050228. PMC 1994260. PMID 17713987. Jump up ^ `` ( Z ) - 9 - Tricosene ( 103201 ) Fact Sheet '' ( PDF ). United States Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved 8 December 2017. Jump up ^ Murvosh, C.M. ; Fye, R.L. ; LaBrecque, G.C. ( 1964 ). `` Studies on the mating behavior of the house fly, Musca domestica L ''. Ohio Journal of Science. 64 ( 4 ) : 264 -- 271. Jump up ^ Jiang, Yong ; Lei, Chao - liang ; Niu, Chang - ying ; Fang, Yu - ling ; Xiao, Chun ; Zhang, Zhong - ning ( October 2002 ). `` Semiochemicals from ovaries of gravid females attract ovipositing female houseflies, Musca domestica '' ( PDF ). Journal of Insect Physiology. 48 ( 10 ) : 945 -- 950. ISSN 1879 - 1611. PMID 12770041. Jump up ^ Larraín, Patricia ; Salas, Claudio ; Salas F ( 2008 ). `` House fly ( Musca domestica L. ) ( Diptera : Muscidae ) development in different types of manure ( Desarrollo de la Mosca Doméstica ( Musca domestica L. ) ( Díptera : Muscidae ) en Distintos Tipos de Estiércol ) ''. Chilean Journal of Agricultural Research. 68 ( 2 ) : 192 -- 197. doi : 10.4067 / S0718 - 58392008000200009. ISSN 0718 - 5839. Jump up ^ West ( 1951 ) : 189. Jump up ^ Lam, Kevin ; Thu, Kelsie ; Tsang, Michelle ; Moore, Margo ; Gries, Gerhard ( 2009 ). `` Bacteria on housefly eggs, Musca domestica, suppress fungal growth in chicken manure through nutrient depletion or antifungal metabolites ''. Naturwissenschaften. 96 ( 9 ) : 1127 -- 1132. Bibcode : 2009NW... 96.1127 L. doi : 10.1007 / s00114 - 009 - 0574 - 1. Jump up ^ `` Where do flies go in winter ? ''. BBC Earth. 10 February 2015. Retrieved 23 September 2017. Jump up ^ `` House flies ''. Cornell University : Department of Entomology. 2017. Retrieved 23 September 2017. Jump up ^ Ho, T.M. ( 1990 ). `` Phoretic association between Macrocheles muscaedomesticae ( Acari : Macrochelidae ) and flies inhabiting poultry manure in Peninsular Malaysia ''. Experimental & Applied Acarology. 10 ( 1 ) : 61 -- 68. doi : 10.1007 / BF01193974. Jump up ^ Christophoryova, Jana ; Stloukal, Eduard ; Stloukalova, Viera ( 2011 ). `` First record of phoresy of pseudoscorpion Lamprochernes chyszeri in Slovakia ( Pseudoscorpiones : Chernetidae ) '' ( PDF ). Folia faunistica Slovaca. 16 ( 3 ) : 139 -- 142. Jump up ^ Roy, H.E. ; Steinkraus, D.C. ; Eilenberg, J. ; Hajek, A.E. ; Pell, J.K. ( 2006 ). `` Bizarre Interactions and Endgames : Entomopathogenic Fungi and Their Arthropod Hosts '' ( PDF ). Annual Review of Entomology. 51 : 331 -- 57. doi : 10.1146 / annurev. ento. 51.110104. 150941. PMID 16332215. Jump up ^ Hewitt, C. Gordon ( 2011 ). The House - Fly : Musca Domestica Linn : Its Structure, Habits, Development, Relation to Disease and Control. Cambridge University Press. pp. 181 -- 184. ISBN 978 - 0 - 521 - 23299 - 9. ^ Jump up to : `` Houseflies '' ( PDF ). World Health Organization. Retrieved 25 September 2017. Jump up ^ Qiu, Xinghui ; Hussein, Mahmoud ; Pillai, Viju V. ; Goddard, Joshua M. ; Park, Hui G. ; Kothapalli, Kumar S. ; Ross, Deborah A. ; Ketterings, Quirine M. ; Brenna, J. Thomas ; Milstein, Mark B. ; Marquis, Helene ; Johnson, Patricia A. ; Nyrop, Jan P. ; Selvaraj, Vimal ( 2017 ). `` Sustainable production of housefly ( Musca domestica ) larvae as a protein - rich feed ingredient by utilizing cattle manure ''. PLoS One. 12 ( 2 ) : e0171708. Bibcode : 2017PLoSO... 1271708H. doi : 10.1371 / journal. pone. 0171708. PMID 28170420. Jump up ^ Connor, Steven ( 2006 ). Fly. Reaktion Books. pp. 20, 27. ISBN 9781861892942. Jump up ^ `` Fly Pendants and Cylindrical and Spherical Beads, ca. 1539 - 1292 B.C.E. Gold, lapis lazuli, Length : 9 11 / 16 in. ( 24.6 cm ). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 08.480. 198 ''. Retrieved 8 December 2017. Jump up ^ Nazni, W.A. ; Luke, H. ; Wan Rozita, W.M. ; Abdullah, A.G. ; Sadiyah, I. ; Azahari, A.H. ; Zamree, I. ; Tan, S.B. ; Lee H.L. ; Sofian A.M. ( 2005 ). `` Determination of the flight range and dispersal of the house fly, Musca domestica ( L. ) using mark release recapture technique ''. Tropical Biomedicine. 22 ( 1 ) : 53 -- 61. PMID 16880754. ^ Jump up to : Szalanski, A.L. ; Owens, C.B. ; Mckay, T. ; Steelman, C.D. ( 2004 ). `` Detection of Campylobacter and Escherichia coli O157 : H7 from filth flies by polymerase chain reaction ''. Medical and Entomology. 18 ( 3 ) : 241 -- 246. doi : 10.1111 / j. 0269 - 283X. 2004.00502. x. PMID 15347391. Jump up ^ Ostrolenk, M. ; Welch H. ( 1942 ). `` The house fly as a vector of food poisoning organisms in food producing establishments ''. American Journal of Public Health. 32 ( 5 ) : 487 -- 494. doi : 10.2105 / ajph. 32.5. 487. Jump up ^ Levine, O.S. ; Levine M.M. ( 1991 ). `` House flies ( Muscadomestica ) as mechanical vectors of shigellosis ''. Reviews of Infectious Diseases. 13 ( 4 ) : 688 -- 696. doi : 10.1093 / clinids / 13.4. 688. PMID 1925289. Jump up ^ Förster, M. ; Klimpel, S. ; Sievert, K. ( 2009 ). `` The house fly ( Musca domestica ) as a potential vector of metazoan parazites caught in a pig - pen in Germany ''. Veterinary Parasitology. 160 ( 1 -- 2 ) : 163 -- 167. doi : 10.1016 / j. vetpar. 2008.10. 087. PMID 19081196. ^ Jump up to : Service, Mike ( 2008 ). Medical Entomology for Students. Cambridge University Press. pp. 140 -- 141. ISBN 978 - 0 - 521 - 70928 - 6. Jump up ^ Minnett, V. ; Poutanen, M. ( 2007 ). `` Swatting Flies for Health : Children and Tuberculosis in Early Twentieth - Century Montreal '' ( PDF ). Urban History Review. 36 ( 1 ) : 32 -- 44. doi : 10.7202 / 1015818ar. Jump up ^ Cirillo, Vincent J. ( 2016 ). `` '' I Am the Baby Killer ! '' House Flies and the Spread of Polio ``. American Entomologist. 62 ( 2 ) : 83. doi : 10.1093 / ae / tmw039. Jump up ^ `` Eliminate the Four Pests ( 1958 ) ''. chineseposters.net. Retrieved 7 December 2017. Jump up ^ Lockwood, Jeffrey A. ( 2012 ). `` Insects as Weapons of War, Terror, and Torture ''. Annual Review of Entomology. 57 : 205 -- 227. doi : 10.1146 / annurev - ento - 120710 - 100618. PMID 21910635. Jump up ^ Miller, B.F. ; Teotia, J.S. ; Thatcher, T.O. ( 1974 ). `` Digestion of poultry manure by Musca domestica ''. British Poultry Science. 15 ( 2 ) : 231 -- 1. doi : 10.1080 / 00071667408416100. PMID 4447887. Jump up ^ Cickova, H. ; Pastor B. ; Kozanek, M. ; Martinez - Sanchez, A. ; Rojo S. ; Takac, P. ( 2012 ). `` Biodegradation of pig manure by the housefly, Musca domestica : A viable ecological strategy for pig manure management ''. PLoS ONE. 7 ( 3 ) : e32798. Bibcode : 2012PLoSO... 732798C. doi : 10.1371 / journal. pone. 0032798. PMC 3303781. PMID 22431982. ^ Jump up to : Zhu, F.X. ; Wang, W.P. ; Hong, C.L. ; Feng, M.G. ; Xue, Z.Y. ; Chen, X.Y. ; Yao, Y.L. ; Yu, M. ( 2012 ). `` Rapid production of maggots as feed supplement and organic fertilizer by the two - stage composting of pig manure ''. Bioresource Technology. 116 : 485 -- 491. doi : 10.1016 / j. biortech. 2012.04. 008. PMID 22541952. Jump up ^ Hwangbo, J. ; Hong, E.C. ; Jang, A. ; Kang, H.K. ; Oh, J.S. ; Kim, B.W. ; Park, B.S. ( 2009 ). `` Utilization of house fly - maggots, a feed supplement in the production of broiler chickens ''. Journal of Environmental Biology. 30 ( 4 ) : 609 -- 614. PMID 20120505. Jump up ^ Georghiou, G.P. ; Hawley, M.K. ( 1971 ). `` Insecticide resistance resulting from sequential selection of houseflies in the field by organophosphorus compounds ''. Bulletin of the World Health Organization. 45 ( 1 ) : 43 -- 51. PMC 2427889. PMID 5316852. Jump up ^ Keiding, J. ( 1975 ). `` Problems of housefly ( Musca domestica ) control due to multiresistance to insecticides ''. Journal of Hygiene, Epidemiology, Microbiology, and Immunology. 19 ( 3 ) : 340 -- 355. PMID 52667. ^ Jump up to : DeBach, Paul ; Rosen, David ( 1991 ). Biological Control by Natural Enemies. CUP Archive. p. 348. ISBN 978 - 0 - 521 - 39191 - 7. Jump up ^ Capinera, John L. ( 2008 ). Encyclopedia of Entomology. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 1880. ISBN 978 - 1 - 4020 - 6242 - 1. Jump up ^ West ( 1951 ) : 96. Jump up ^ Agarwal, S. ; Sohal, R.S. ( December 1994 ). `` DNA oxidative damage and life expectancy in houseflies ''. PNAS. 91 ( 25 ) : 12332 -- 5. Bibcode : 1994PNAS... 9112332A. doi : 10.1073 / pnas. 91.25. 12332. PMC 45431. PMID 7991627. Jump up ^ Holmes, G.E. ; Bernstein, C. ; Bernstein, H. ( September 1992 ). `` Oxidative and other DNA damages as the basis of aging : a review ''. Mutation Research. 275 ( 3 -- 6 ) : 305 -- 15. doi : 10.1016 / 0921 - 8734 ( 92 ) 90034 - M. PMID 1383772. Jump up ^ Bernstein, Harris ; Payne, Claire M. ; Bernstein, Carol ; Garewal, Harinder ; Dvorak, Katerina ( 2008 ). `` Cancer and Aging as Consequences of Unrepaired DNA Damage ''. In Kimura, Honoka ; Suzuki, Aoi. New Research on DNA Damages. New York : Nova Science Publishers. pp. 1 -- 47. ISBN 978 - 1 - 60456 - 581 - 2. Jump up ^ Dübendorfer, A. ; Hediger, M ; Burghardt, G ; Bopp, D ( 2002 ). `` Musca domestica, a window on the evolution of sex - determining mechanisms in insects ''. International Journal of Developmental Biology. 46 ( 1 ) : 75 -- 79. PMID 11902690. Jump up ^ Verhulst, Eveline C. ; van de Zande, Louis ; Beukeboom, Leo W. ( August 2010 ). `` Insect sex determination : it all evolves around transformer ''. Current Opinion in Genetics & Development. 20 ( 4 ) : 376 -- 383. doi : 10.1016 / j. gde. 2010.05. 001. Jump up ^ Nayduch, Dana ; Burrus, Roxanne G ( 2017 ). `` Flourishing in Filth : House Fly -- Microbe Interactions Across Life History ''. Annals of the Entomological Society of America. 110 : 6. doi : 10.1093 / aesa / saw083. Jump up ^ Hanser, Kathleen ( 26 June 2009 ). `` Insect Power ''. Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Retrieved 7 December 2017. Jump up ^ Huber, Susanne A. ; Franz, Matthias O. ; Bülthoff, Heinrich H. ( 1999 ). `` On robots and flies : Modeling the visual orientation behavior of flies '' ( PDF ). Robotics and Autonomous Systems. 29 ( 4 ) : 227. doi : 10.1016 / S0921 - 8890 ( 99 ) 00055 - X. Jump up ^ `` The etymology of Beelzebul has proceeded in several directions. The variant reading Beelzebub ( Syriac translators and Jerome ) reflects a long - standing tradition of equating Beelzebul with the Philistine deity of the city of Ekron mentioned in 2 Kgs 1 : 2, 3, 6, 16. Baalzebub ( Heb ba ˓ al zĕbûb ) seems to mean `` lord of flies '' ( HALAT, 250, but cf. LXXB baal muian theon akkarōn, `` Baal - Fly, god of Akkaron '' ; Ant 9 : 2, 1 theon muian ). ``, Lewis, `` Beelzebul '', in Freedman, D.N. ( 1996 ). Vol. 1 : The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary ( 639 ). New York : Doubleday. Jump up ^ Parker, Robert ( 2011 ). On Greek Religion. Cornell University Press. pp. 105 -- 106. ISBN 978 - 0801477355. Jump up ^ Leland Clifton Wyman ( 1983 ). `` Navajo Ceremonial System ''. Handbook of North American Indians ( PDF ). Humboldt State University. p. 539. Nearly every element in the universe may be thus personalized, and even the least of these such as tiny Chipmunk and those little insect helpers and mentors of deity and man in the myths, Big Fly ( Dǫ ' soh ) and Ripener ( Corn Beetle ) Girl ( ' Anilt ' ánii ' At ' ééd ) ( Wyman and Bailey 1964 : 29 -- 30, 51, 137 -- 144 ), are as necessary for the harmonious balance of the universe as is the great Sun. Jump up ^ Leland Clifton Wyman & Flora L. Bailey ( 1964 ). Navaho Indian Ethnoentomology. Anthropology Series. University of New Mexico Press. LCCN 64024356. Jump up ^ `` Native American Fly Mythology ''. Native Languages of the Americas. Retrieved 8 December 2017. Jump up ^ Miner, Paul ( 2011 ). `` Blake 's Swedenborgian Fly ''. Notes and Queries. 58 ( 4 ) : 530. Jump up ^ Priddy, Anna ( 2009 ). Bloom 's How to Write about Emily Dickinson. Infobase Publishing. p. 169. ISBN 978 - 1 - 4381 - 1240 - 4. Jump up ^ William Golding ( 2013 ). Lord of the Flies : Text, Criticism, Giossary and Notes. Al Manhal. p. 8. ISBN 9796500118451. Jump up ^ Henschel, Joh R. ( 2015 ). Toktok Talkie : Ancient Mariner to Zophosis Moralesi. Wordweaver Publishing House. p. 6. ISBN 978 - 99945 - 82 - 04 - 4. Ogden Nash was neither the first nor the last person to puzzle about the value of the fly, not only because flies are frequently considered a nuisance, but because biodiversity in general is a puzzle. Nash 's question can also be interpreted as going to the heart of conservation Further reading West, Luther S. ( 1951 ). The Housefly. Its natural history, medical importance, and control ( PDF ). New York : Comstock Publishing Company. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Musca domestica. Wikispecies has information related to Musca domestica The house - fly, Musca domestica Linn. : its structure, habits, development, relation to disease and control by C. Gordon Hewitt ( 1914 ) How to control house and stable flies without using pesticides. Agriculture Information Bulletin Number 673 House fly on the UF / IFAS Featured Creatures Web site 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. Insects in culture Aspects of insects in culture In the arts Insects in art Beetlewing Insects in film Insects in literature Insects in music List of insect - inspired songs Insects on stamps In fishing Fishing bait Fly fishing Artificial fly Fly tying Maggot Mayfly Mealworm In medicine Apitherapy Apitoxin Melittin Maggot Spanish fly Cantharidin In mythology Bee Butterfly Cicada Dragonfly Praying mantis Scarab Entomophagy ( as food ) Adults Ant Cicada Cricket Grasshopper Termite Larvae Bamboo worm Darkling beetle Mealworm Mopani worm Rhinoceros beetle Silkworm Waxworm Witchetty grub Other aspects Biomimicry Cricket fighting Entomological warfare Flea circus Insects in religion Jingzhe Economic entomology Beneficial insects Pest control Encarsia formosa Ichneumon wasp Ladybird Pollination Bees crops pollinated Bumblebee Honey bee western Beetles Flies Lepidoptera Products Beekeeping Bee pollen Beeswax Honey Propolis Royal jelly Other insects Carmine / Cochineal Polish Chitin Kermes Sericulture Silk Lac / Shellac Model organism Drosophila melanogaster Harmful insects Crop pests Aphid Boll weevil Colorado potato beetle Cottony cushion scale Japanese beetle Locust Phylloxera Western corn rootworm Livestock pests Botfly Horn fly Horse - fly Screwworm fly Tsetse fly Warble fly Biting / stinging Insect bites and stings Insect sting allergy Bed bug Bee sting Flea Horse - fly Louse Mosquito Wasp Wood - eating Deathwatch beetle Furniture beetle House longhorn beetle Termite Woodworm Other pests Home - stored product entomology Clothes moth Cockroach Housefly Pioneers Jan Swammerdam Alfred Russel Wallace Jean - Henri Fabre Hans Zinsser ( Rats, Lice and History ) Lafcadio Hearn ( Insect Literature ) Related Living things in culture Arthropods Birds Fish Fungi Mammals Microbes Molluscs Reptiles Plants Zoomusicology Taxon identifiers Wd : Q166111 ADW : Musca_domestica BioLib : 122031 BugGuide : 39559 EoL : 730039 GBIF : 1524843 iNaturalist : 120156 ITIS : 150251 NCBI : 7370 ARKive : house - fly / musca - domestica LCCN : sh85062571 GND : 4183816 - 6 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Housefly&oldid=815545180 '' Categories : Cosmopolitan arthropods Household pest insects Insect vectors of human pathogens Insects described in 1758 Insects in culture Muscidae Hidden categories : CS1 maint : Multiple names : authors list Good articles Articles with ' species ' microformats Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Talk Contents About Wikipedia Wikispecies አማርኛ Atikamekw Azərbaycanca Башҡортса Беларуская Български Català Cebuano Čeština ChiShona Deitsch Deutsch Eesti Ελληνικά Emiliàn e rumagnòl Español Euskara فارسی Français Gaeilge Galego 한국어 Hausa Interlingua ᐃᓄᒃᑎᑐᑦ / inuktitut Íslenska Italiano עברית Қазақша Кыргызча Лакку Latina Latviešu Lëtzebuergesch Lietuvių Magyar മലയാളം मराठी مازِرونی Bahasa Melayu Nāhuatl Nederlands Nēhiyawēwin / ᓀᐦᐃᔭᐍᐏᐣ 日本 語 Norsk Occitan Oʻzbekcha / ўзбекча پښتو Picard Plattdüütsch Polski Português Română Русский Simple English Slovenščina Српски / srpski Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Suomi Svenska Tagalog Татарча / tatarça Тоҷикӣ Türkçe Українська Tiếng Việt Walon Winaray 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 15 December 2017, at 14 : 06. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: where do flys lay eggs in a house
Answer: on decaying organic matter such as food waste, carrion or faeces