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iStudy Flies - Everyday Housefly
The four life stages of the housefly are: (1) egg, (2) larva (maggot), (3) pupa, and (4) winged adult. Development from egg to adult housefly takes about 10 days: (1) 8 to 12 hours for the egg stage, (2) 5 days for the larval stage, and (3) 4 to 5 days for the pupa stage. An adult female housefly can produce more than 2,000 eggs in its lifetime, but will generally produce only 500 to 600 eggs -- in clusters of 75 to 150 eggs every 3 to 4 days, in a 31 day period. [27] Both annoying and dangerous to human populations, houseflies are known to transmit more than 100 pathogens (disease producing organisms). [28] Sound from the flies' wings produces a characteristic hum based upon the rapidity of their wing beat, where the housefly beats 345 strokes a second in the middle octave key of F. [29] Night is a time of inactivity for houseflies. Indoors, they will commonly come to rest in ceiling areas overhead; and, outdoors, they will be found in various trees, shrubs, grasses. [30] "Fly specks" of the housefly are actually vomit spots of regurgitation used by the housefly to reduce solids into a more liquid form to be sucked up through its proboscis. [31] Houseflies feed on sweet or decaying substances, mopping up only liquid materials into their mouths (using their mouthparts like a sponge), and ingesting solids through liquifying the material by means of regurgitated saliva. [32]
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