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- Housefly
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- Hematophagous flies
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- Flies necrophages
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- Fly fly
Flies appeared on the planet more than 250 million years ago. During this time, paleomies managed to develop into more than 400 thousand species and adapt to any conditions of existence. This dipteran insect cannot be found today only beyond the Arctic Circle and in Antarctica. Flies have taken everything possible for living organisms food niches. Some feed on nectar of flowers, others on blood, still others decompose organic matter, fourth and fresh are good. Some previously steppe and forest species of flies quickly "realized" what benefits they promised the development of civilization and moved closer to human habitation. It is worth moving a couple of kilometers from the last home, and these synanthropic flies cease to annoy. They are replaced by the remaining "wild" species.
Flies classification
Flies cannot be systematized until now, offering various ways of dividing these insects into orders, genera, families, and so on. But a simple inhabitant of the planet is not very interested in such classification methods as the shape of the seam along which the pupa bursts, or the length of the mustache of a fly. But the food preferences of flies excite everyone, since the comfort of human existence depends on this. And the separation of dipterans by nutritional factor is quite clear and does not cause confusion.
By the nature of the nutrition of adults, flies are:
- nectarophages;
- aphages;
- hematophages;
- coprophages;
- necrophages
- polyphages.
The second part of these words comes from the Greek phagos - “devouring” and indicates the type of food that each group eats.
The food of nectarophages is the nectar of flowers, the aphages in adulthood do not eat at all, the hematophages drink blood, the coprophages eat excrement, the necrophages eat dead flesh, and the polyphages have a very large food base. A striking example of a polyphage is the housefly.
On a note!
Among the coprophagous and hematophagous, there are two species of flies: obligate and optional. In the former, larvae and adults feed on the same food. In the second variety, the food bases of larvae and adults are different.
Coprophages
Obligatory, among others, are some species of the family of true flies that live on pastures. These insects contribute to the breakdown of excrement in nature and are difficult to attribute to pests or dangerous flies. But sometimes they fly into the house, laying eggs of worms. In addition, these species of flies often settle in rooms where animals are kept.
Optional ones are much more dangerous, as adult flies feed on excrement, but also willingly eat human food. Often, these species come to food directly from the dunghill. Larvae food is excrement.
On a note!
The most typical and common representative of facultative coprophages is brownie (indoor) fly. This is one of the most common types of flies in Russia, so adapted to life in human homes that it almost never occurs in nature.
The appearance of a housefly
In the photo of a brownie fly with macro magnification, you can clearly see all the color details. But when viewed with the naked eye, the fly looks gray.
This is a small insect with an average length of 7 mm. The color of house flies is gray with four longitudinal black stripes on the chest. The belly is yellowish on the underside. The eyes are large, dark red. Eye device facet. The male differs from the female in the distance between the eyes: in females, the length of the organ of vision is equal to the distance between them; the male eyes are set 2/3 of the length.
Nutrition
A housefly is an insect that is not able to bite through human skin, although a female needs protein food to breed. This species of flies eats only liquid food. When solid pieces of organic matter are found, the housefly dissolves them in saliva before use.
In this way, she can “bite” a person. Trying to dissolve the skin with saliva, the fly causes sharp pain. A similar burn would have caused an acid burn. But the marks on the body from this "Bite" does not remain.
Hematophagous
Flies that bite belong to obligate hematophages. This species feeds on blood in the adult stage. Larvae develop in rotting organics. Obligatory hematophages include horse-flies, autumn lighter and tsetse, which are often called flies killers.
Interesting!
The biggest flies are called horseflies because of their thirst for blood. The female, trying to get drunk on blood and lay eggs, does not feel danger, does not notice anything around and often dies from the tail of an animal or human hand.
In horseflies, females differ from males in that the latter usually do not even see the latter. Male horseflies feed on nectar and do not attack mammals.
Some horsefly species have green eyes, which is why they are often confused with others. large flies with green eyes - afaga gadflies.
All obligate hematophages have an oral apparatus adapted for blood production.
Optional hematophages are not able to independently produce blood from the body of the victim. They feed on secretions of the skin and mucous membranes. Willingly drink blood emerging from fresh wounds. In addition to secretions, they feed on the excrement of mammals and plant juices. Larvae develop in excrement.
A typical representative of the optional hematophagus is a market fly, very similar to a housefly, but living only in the southern regions. Distributed throughout Central Asia and the Caucasus. In Russia, lives in the subtropical zone.
Necrophages
Names of species of flies can often be misleading. Such a species as a “slop fly” does not exist in nature. Under this name, lucilia, which belongs to the group of necrophages, is most often hidden. On the same garbage can you can find any synanthropic species, including Drosophila. The group of necrophages from the most famous flies includes:
- lucilia (green);
- gray meat;
- blue meat.
They all feed on animal carcasses, but also include food waste, vegetable juices and excrement in their diet.
Interesting!
Necrophages are easily distinguished from other dipterans: all these flies with red eyes. Some may have blood red eyes (gray meat fly) or brick (green).
Lucilia
Very common and known to all emerald green fly able to lay eggs on meat left unattended for a couple of minutes.
Often eggs are laid in open wounds, where the larvae begin to develop, eating rotting flesh. The main habitat of these dipterans near human habitation is slaughterhouses. But also larvae can develop in animal excrement. It takes 1-2 days to develop larva from an egg.
Blue meat
The insect is medium in size. Distributed across all continents. Like green, it prefers slaughterhouses and decaying meat.
Meat gray
One of the most dangerous carrion flies. Outwardly, it looks like an ordinary indoor, but larger and with clearly visible bright red eyes on its head. Species viviparous. The female only needs to touch the abdomen of the meat to lay the larva. When going outside, the larva immediately begins to bite into the meat. The place of introduction of the larva can be determined by the appearance of liquid from decaying meat.
Nectarophages
This group includes a flyfish - an insect similar to a bee, but with two yellow spots on the upper side of the abdomen.Sometimes these spots have a reddish tint.
A bee-sucker can harm a person only if her eggs enter the gastrointestinal tract. Given that larva larvae develop in pits with sewage, the likelihood of eggs from eggs in fresh food is very small.
Afagi
Species that do not consume any food in adulthood. Particularly dangerous aphages include gadflies, the larvae of which feed on the host's soft muscle tissues or parasitize in the intestine.
On a note!
Contrary to general belief the gadfly does not bite and does not lay eggs under the skin.
Eggs gadflies, depending on the type, either stick to the animal’s hair, or lay on the grass, or injected into the nose and eyes. The hatched larva itself makes its way under the skin or intestines.
Winged wings
This is a family of spotted wing flies. Most of them are small, only a few mm in length. Individual species can reach 2 cm. For humans, they are harmless, but cause serious damage to crops.
The number of mottled animals includes a Mediterranean fruit fly with a red belly, exotic for Russians. Due to the size (up to 5 mm) and similar coloring, the details of which are difficult to distinguish without a microscope, this fly is easily confused with fruit fly.
The Mediterranean fly is not among the Russian pests, but it can be introduced along with citrus fruits - the main food for its larvae.
