House Fly Identification & Prevention

Some researchers believe a pair of house flies can produce enough offspring to cover the Earth in less than one year, assuming all their offspring and subsequent generations survive.

Description

The house fly is a medium-sized fly, about 1/4 inch in length. The house fly is primarily grey with four dark longitudinal stripes on its prothorax and a sharp curve on its leading wing edge in its fourth longitudinal vein. Often confused with the face fly, a house fly's calyptere is bare while the face fly has a tuft of bristles where its calyptere attaches to the thorax.

Biology and Behavior

• House flies are probably the most common fly in the world, often found around dwellings and livestock.
• House flies, like all flies, enter four life stages (egg, larvae, pupae, and adult).
• A female fly will deposit up to 150 white eggs at a time (each about 1 mm in length) on fresh animal manure or some other decaying organic matter.
• Larvae emerge from the eggs 8 to 20 hours later and feed on the surrounding matter for as little as 3 to 8 days in warm weather (6 to 8 weeks at cooler temperatures) before seeking a cool, dry location to pupate.
• The pupal stage may vary in length from 3 days to 4 weeks depending on temperature and humidity and may take place 150 feet or more from the breeding site.
• 10 to 12 generations of house flies are possible in one summer.
• The lifespan of a housefly varies from 2 to 3 days without food and up to 54 days with food and favorable environmental conditions.
• House flies can travel great distances but generally remain within one mile of their breeding site.
• House flies harbor many disease organisms such as typhoid fever, cholera, diarrhea, dysentery, tuberculosis, anthrax, ophthalmia, salmonella, and E. coli bacteria.