These are the commonest of all insects living close to man. They transmit a number of diseases like diarrhea, dysentery, chol­era, typhoid fever, trachoma etc.

Parts of housefly

The house fly (Muscat domestic) contains a head, thorax and abdomen.

Feted: The head contains a pair of antennae, a pair of compound eyes and a proboscis.

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Thorax: It has 2 to 4 longitudinal stripes. There is a pair of wings and three pairs of legs in the thorax.

Abdomen: It is segmented and shows light and dark markings.

Life cycle of housefly

The four stages involved in the life cycle of housefly are: egg, larva, pupa and adult.

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The female lays 120 to 150 eggs at one sitting. The eggs are 1mm long. They are white in color. The eggs hatch in 18 to 24 hours.

Larva (Maggot): The larvae are white, segmented and footless. They are 1 to 2 mm in length at birth. They eat voraciously and mount twice and grow unto a length of 12mm. The larval stage lasts from 2 to 7 days.

Pupa: The pupa is barrel shaped and is dark brown in color. The pupa stage lasts for 3 to 6 days.

Adult: It develops from the pupa. A fly lives for 15 to 25 days.

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Transmission of diseases

Flies transmit diseases like typhoid, cholera, diarrhea dyes- try, poliomyelitis etc. Flies transmit diseases by the following ways.

1. Mechanical transmission: Microorganisms are transported on their feet and legs.

2. Vomit drop: By vomiting they infect foods and transmit diseases.

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3. Defecation: By constant defecation, they transmit disease

Control of Flies

Flies can be controlled by

1. Maintaining a clean environment and a clean house.

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2. By spraying with DDT, fenthmn or marathon.

3. Using fly papers coated with a mixture of resin and castor oil.

4. Health education about the importance of getting rid of flies.