Wednesday, March 21, 2012

How long does a house fly live?‎

I saw a house fly today. When the weather warms, flies come out of diapause, a process similar to hibernation. This process, which comes on gradually, can last for months, and take place at any point in a housefly's life cycle.

The house fly (Musca domestica), is the most common of all domestic flies, accounting for about 91% of all flies in human habitations, and is one of the most widely distributed insects, found all over the world.

Each female fly lays about 5 batches of 100 eggs that hatch into larvae (maggots) within a day. They live and feed on dead and decaying organic material for about a week. After they’ve grown and shed their skin 3 times they find a cool dry place to transform into pupae. The adult flies then emerge from the pupae after 4 to 6 days and soon begin to look for mates. Adults live from 2 to 4 weeks. About twelve generations develop each summer.

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