Life History of House Fly Musca Domestica Linnaeus (Diptera: Muscidae), its Involvement in Diseases Spread and Prevention of Vector

Abstract

The house fly, scientifically known as Musca domestica Linnaeus, is a well-known cosmopolitan
insect that interact with our lives. The house fly M. domestica accounts for 91% of all flies that
live within human habitation which is the reason that they are known as house fly. Of both farm
and home, it is the most common species found on hog and poultry farms, and horse stables and
ranches. Not only are house flies a nuisance, but excessive fly populations are an irritant to
inhabitants and farm workers when these are nearby to human habitations to create public health
problems. Indoors, they rest on floors, walls and ceilings during day, and outdoors, they can rest
on plants, ground, fence wires and garbage cans. Night resting places are usually near to sources
of food and 5 to 15 feet off the ground, and they prefer corners and edges or thin objects to rest
on. House fly eggs are laid in almost any warm, moist material that may supply suitable food for
the larvae such as a wide variety of food, including human food, animal food, carcasses, garbage
and excrement. The female may lay a total of five to six batches of 75 to 100 eggs that hatch in
12 to 24 hours. Houseflies pass through the egg, larval and pupal stages in approximately 10
days, after which adult flies emerge and the average life span for a house fly is less than one
month. House flies are major carriers of disease and they are known to transfer over 100
pathogens resulting in ailments, including typhoid fever, tuberculosis, cholera, dysentery,
poliomyelitis, yaws, anthrax, tularemia and leprosy. House flies are covered with small hairs that
serve as taste organs and collect the pathogens on their legs and mouths when feeding on feces,
trash and other decaying material. Flies regurgitate and excrete wherever they come to rest and
thereby mechanically transmit diseases. Measures to control flies transmitted disease are
reducing or eliminating breeding sites for flies, reducing sources that attract flies from other
areas, preventing contact between flies and disease-causing agents, and protecting of foods well
as eating utensils and people from making contact with flies. House flies can be a real nuisance
when they are flying around, so it is important to get rid of them. House fly control involves
several steps, and the first step is identification, which requires different control methods. It is
very important to identify places where flies have been depositing their eggs and breeding site
must be cleaned up or removed otherwise flies will continue to be a problem. Next step is to
eliminate adult flies and depending on the situation, it may be necessary to use fly bait, traps or
an attractant application. Fly traps have long been favorite devices and there are many forms of
fly traps, from disposable fly traps to electronic fly light traps with replaceable light bulbs and
glue boards. Other steps in house fly control are exclusion and sanitation, and after these
measures, householders can use insecticides that come in residual forms, aerosols, fogging
materials and baiting forms.