House fly (Musca domastica)

Taxonomy

Flies belong to the order Diptera.

There are several types with the most important being:

• House fly (Musca domestica: Muscidae)
• Fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster: Drosophilidae).

House fly

It is a fully metamorphosed insect, that is, it undergoes a complete transformation during its biological cycle, with four stages of development: egg, larva, nymph (pupa) and full bloom (adult).

It can reproduce with great ease both because of its ability to lay eggs inside any decaying organic material and because of the speed with which the larvae develop and become maggots (flies), which in turn reproduce rapidly. The duration of the biological cycle of the house fly, in a favorable environment, is 25-30 days (often shorter), during which it can deposit up to 1000 eggs.

Flies are active during the day or when there is sufficient lighting and at night they rest on various surfaces (eg corners of rooms, ceilings, etc.).

Public health

As for the housefly, it is a cosmopolitan species of enormous public health importance. The bloom feeds on a proboscis, which bears an extreme cotyledon that “sprinkles” solid foods with saliva. The viscous habitats are then absorbed by the proboscis. It feeds with equal ease and without exceptional food preferences, both on human food and on dirt. Her digestive system is full of germs which she carries wherever she stands mechanically (with her legs) but also with the excrement and with the liquid she takes out of her oral molecules to feed. On the body it has abundant fine hairs to which germs and impurities stick very easily.

It has been found that flies can become carriers of more than 100 pathogenic microorganisms and cause various diseases such as dysentery, salmonellosis, typhoid fever, cholera, anthrax, poliomyelitis, tetanus, etc.

Modes of Management

Prevention: All garbage collection points should be kept clean. Garbage should be placed in plastic bags before disposal in closable waste bins. Organic waste should be removed daily from sanitary areas. Special attention should be paid to coprosors in equestrian clubs, animal breeding units, zoos, etc.

Tracking: They are easy because they fly by day. The use of traps is recommended to reduce the population.

Shielding: Screens on windows of houses or food areas, air curtains or curtains with plastic strips at entrances of food areas.

Control: Targeted spraying of aphidicides and larvicidal insecticides on organic materials that are breeding grounds such as coppices and rubbish heaps in urban and peri-urban environments. In addition, it is recommended to apply residual sprays with fungicides in places that “nest” (growth centers, etc.). A fairly common technique is the application of insecticides in the form of baits, which can be used in specific areas, either as coatings or as baits.

The use of electric flying insect traps is recommended. These devices work by attracting insects by emitting ultraviolet radiation (UV) and then trapping them on a sticky surface. UV traps can be unobtrusive or unobtrusive, wall-mounted or ceiling-mounted and with lamps of power proportional to the space.