Fly insect. What do flies eat? A variety of treats for dipterans
The fly is a two-winged nuisance insect from a species of arthropod.
It received this name back from ancient Slavic times from the word “mus”, which translates as “gray”.
What does a fly look like?
Everyone probably knows what this insect looks like, but it’s still worth looking at the presented photos of various flies.
The length of its body ranges from a millimeter level to two cm. The hairy body of the fly has two wings with membranes, a fairly voluminous head and a belly with three pairs of legs.
The mouth is designed like a proboscis that sucks in liquid food. The fly's legs have fairly developed sharp segments and sticky pads that allow it to stay upside down on any surface.
The insect's eyes are designed in a particularly unique way; they contain thousands of hexagonal crystals, which allows the fly to simultaneously see what is happening from absolutely any direction (even the background), that is, it has a circular field of vision. Whiskers are capable of detecting and recognizing many different scents.
Habitats and food of flies
The fly insect is a very heat-loving arthropod and does not tolerate drops in temperature at all. Its habitat is almost the entire globe, excluding cold Antarctica.
They give preference to residential areas, closer to people and animals. The fly can be observed in homes during the warm season, where it invades from early spring to late autumn.
The life of an insect is quite short - a maximum of 2.5 months.
Flies eat almost any organic food that is pre-soaked with their saliva. Sweets occupy the first place in its diet, but there are also exceptional individuals who choose raw vegetables.
Common subspecies of flies
At first glance, it seems that the flies are all the same - the same as we are used to chasing them around the house. But their population has exceeded 3,600 species!
Here are the most common types of flies:
Housefly or housefly
It is the most common insect living near people. This specimen is not blood-sucking and practically does not bite, which still does not make it safe.
The body is painted dark gray; on the belly there are limbs with tentacles that actively carry bacteria and dirt that are dangerous to humans, which provokes infection with various infections.
The size of a housefly, as a rule, does not exceed 8 mm. Oddly enough, males are usually much smaller than females. A distinctive feature of the domestic specimen is a broken vein on the wings just before the edge.
Green or carrion fly
This unpleasant, but quite colorful creature can be found in garden plots, near peat or manure. They prefer habitats near sewage with a specific odor.
Ilyinitsa-beekeeper
A rather large specimen (1.5 cm), dark in color, covered with numerous fluffy hairs.
It is dangerous because if the larvae accidentally enter the human body, serious intestinal diseases arise.
Fly ktyr
A huge predator that eats midges, mosquitoes, etc. Unlike its fellows, the insect brings great benefits to humans, exterminating unnecessary pests and dangerous insects.
Their habitat is any rotting food, where there are other small insects and larvae on which it feeds.
Tsetse fly
Lives in the vastness of Africa and feeds on the blood of cattle and wild animals.
Representatives of this class suffer from an incurable disease that gradually destroys all human organs and ends in death.
Hoverfly or syrphid
Very similar to a wasp. In the summer, you can see such a fly hovering over flowering plants, or near a cluster of garden aphids.
This specimen is safe for humans. It feeds on the nectar of inflorescences and spider mites. The buzzing of a fly resembles the sound of rushing water, which is why it got its beautiful name.
Fly breeding stages
Most types of flies lay eggs 3 days after mating on food or waste surfaces.
The female’s capabilities are great - during her existence she can lay up to three thousand eggs! Laying occurs a maximum of 15 times during the life of a female.
The very next day, larvae appear from the eggs - maggots, which grow instantly, increasing in volume 800 times in seven days, depending on the air temperature.
The heat-loving larva can die already at + 8 degrees.
Then a pupa appears, which grows and develops for another week. After just a couple of weeks, it turns into a full-fledged fly, which does not change its shape during its short life (3 weeks).
The fly brings dirt and unsanitary conditions into our lives, laying dangerous larvae almost everywhere. They are also carriers of many diseases and infections, are able to survive on any living organism and adapt to any habitat.
Photo of a fly
Flies are among the insects that are widespread almost all over the world; there are a great many species of them. These unpleasant creatures often become a real problem when they take up residence in homes during the warm season. Let's consider what flies eat in nature and in human homes, and what foods are their favorite.
Classification
Annoying insects can live both in nature, obtaining their own food, or settle closer to human habitation and use those products that people forget to remove or throw away. Let's consider what flies eat, and what groups they are divided into in science depending on the organization of nutrition. The information is presented in the table.
Group | Brief description | Examples |
Hematophagous | Adults are bloodsuckers and also consume ichor and sweat. Larvae feed on excrement | Bazarnaya Autumn burner |
Coprophagous | Food consists of food waste and excrement of people and animals. In nature they can consume plant juices | |
Polyphages | Omnivores: feed on waste, food products, and excrement | Room |
Most often in houses and apartments you can find house flies and house flies, but autumn flies and some other species often fly in as well.
house fly
These insects are omnivores, so feeding is not a problem for them. How do such insects feed?
- Taste buds are located on the legs, thanks to which the fly tastes the selected food.
- They suck up food using a special forked proboscis tongue, which simultaneously softens it.
- The food then enters the digestive system.
- Due to the lack of teeth, they prefer liquid food.
What do house flies eat? Some of their favorite treats include:
- Sweet tea.
- Juices and lemonades.
- Fruit juices.
- Jam, jam.
Often these insects are interested in solid food, but it needs to be abundantly moistened with saliva, so most often the fly will choose a sweet liquid. However, if necessary, insects will feed on fresh or rotting fruits and vegetables.
Housefly
What does a housefly eat as a larva? During this period, her food is sewage. To develop, the larvae need protein, so they prefer to feed on decaying meat or fish.
Adult insects can sometimes find food by smell or see something tasty with their compound eyes, but more often they discover food by accident. So, crawling along the surface of the table, a dipteran can “stumble upon” a drop of jam, which will become food. Unlike bees, a well-fed fly will not call on its relatives, preferring to feed alone.
Flesh flies
As the name suggests, these insects prefer meat food, so the basis of their diet is carrion and the flesh of dead animals, lard. Also, these types of flies, both larvae and adults, can eat other foods:
- Rotting vegetables and fruits.
- Larvae of beetles and grasshoppers.
Such insects are carriers of dangerous diseases, but they are the ones who help speed up the decomposition processes of carrion.
Autumn burners
These insects are not picky, so their food is varied. What do flies of this species eat?
Most often with the blood of animals or people, they can bite through the skin thanks to special chitinous teeth. Being carriers of serious diseases, such insects can create many problems for people, since through their bites one can become infected with ulcers and trypanosomes.
Other species of Diptera
What a fly eats and its favorite delicacies depends on the specific species. For example:
- Drosophila feed on rotten fruits and lay eggs in them.
- Fruits are found in those apartments where sour foods are found. These are small midges that reproduce very quickly. They can also grow in baskets where onions, carrots, and other vegetables are stored.
- Carrion eats decaying food.
Thus, the question of what a fly eats cannot be answered unambiguously; it all depends on the specific species.
Some interesting facts
Among these insects there are many species with unusual feeding habits. Let's look at what flies eat in natural conditions:
- There is a special type, cheese flies, that can breed and feed inside the cheese wheel. They are called pyophilides.
- The striped yellow-and-black syrphid, or hoverfly, a wasp-like dipteran, eats flower nectar.
- The larvae of hover flies are distinguished by an enviable appetite: during their development to an adult, each of them eats more than 2 thousand aphids.
- The dangerous Tsetse fly prefers the blood of wild animals, cattle, and people as food. The bite of this African resident can cause incurable diseases of the nervous system and immunity.
Among the flies there are also real predators, for example, ktyri, owners of a sharp poisonous sting. Their food includes mosquitoes, midges, even bees and flies. Interestingly, some types of flies are cultivated by fishing fans. Thus, the blue spring fly is specially bred on bird droppings, pig manure, its food is rotting organic remains, and the insects are also fed with sugar and dry milk.
Lifespan
We looked at what the Drosophila fly and some other species of these dipterans feed on. Let's find out how long they live and whether they can live without food.
The average lifespan of fruit flies under favorable conditions is short, only 10-20 days. However, if the temperature is up to +18 °C, and there is a lot of food, pests can live for more than 2.5 months. Diptera are almost never left without food, since they find food everywhere both in human homes and in nature. If necessary, they can eat food in garbage dumps and landfills. In winter, the insect goes into suspended animation and can survive without food until the first warm days. It should be remembered that newly awakened flies are very lethargic and it will not be difficult to kill them.
In forests, dipterans have a lot of natural enemies (birds, frogs, spiders), so they rarely survive more than 10 days.
We looked at what flies eat and were convinced that these creatures are able to survive almost anywhere, since they are not picky about food.
Lecture: “Flies and their importance in animal pathology.”
1. Characteristics of flies by groups.
2. Pathogenic effect of flies.
3. Measures to control flies.
Literature:
1. Zakhvatkin Yuri Alekseevich “Course of general entomology.” M. Kolos, 2001
2. Kunichkin Gennady Ilyich. “Insects - pathogens and carriers of diseases of farm animals” Alma-ata, 1989.
3. Tolokonnikov Vasily Petrovich. Immunobiological bases, means and methods of combating sheep myiases. Abstract, 1995
When starting to study insects, we first of all pay attention to their appearance and external signs, trying to understand at least the most general properties of their structure and organization. Our eyes perceive at least 90% of the information available to us about the world around us, so morphology has accumulated a huge number of obvious facts. It was morphology that began to systematize these facts, compare and interpret them. It is quite natural that all existing systems and classifications are based on morphological facts.
Of the wide variety of insects, flies inhabit almost the entire earth from the polar countries to the equator.
Many flies live in the wild, but some species of flies live near people and these flies are called synanthropic flies.
Flies that live on livestock farms or near animals are called zoophilic.
There are 115 known species of zoophilic flies. Most of them (92 species) live in pastures, and the rest live indoors.
According to modern taxonomy, flies are classified as:
Phylum Arthropoda
Insecta class
Neg. Diptera
P/neg. Brachicera
6 main families
1. Sem. Muscidae - true flies (3000 species)
main types:
Musca domestica – housefly
Musca autumnalis - field fly
Musca amica - Siberian field fly
Musca larvipara - viviparous field fly
Blood-sucking flies:
Stomoxys calcitrans – autumn fly
Haematobia stimulans - cow fly
Haematobia atripalpis – horse fly
Lyperosia irritans - small cow fly
Lyperosia titilans - southern cowbird
Sem. Calliphoridae - blue and green blowflies
Calliphora vicina - blue blowfly
Lucilia sericata – green blowfly
Family Sarcophagidae - gray blowflies
Wohlfahryia magnifica - Wohlfart's fly
Family Hippoboscidae – bloodsuckers
Melophagus ovinus - sheep bloodsucker
Hippobosca eguina - horse bloodsucker
Sem. Ulididae - ulidids
Physiphora demandata - silage fly
Sem. Piophilidae - pyophilids
Piophila casei - cheese fly
Despite such diversity, all flies have some morphological characteristics similar to each other. The massive body of flies is divided into 3 sections: head, chest and abdomen.
On the head are complexly arranged eyes, antennae (antennas) and mouthparts. The structure of the oral organs depends on the method of feeding, but is designed to accept only liquid food.
The thoracic region consists of 3 parts, to which a pair of wings, 3 pairs of limbs are attached, and spiracles are located on the sides.
The abdomen has an oval shape, at the end of which there are genital organs - the copulatory organ of the male and the ovipositor of the female.
The entire body of insects is densely covered with hairs, the number and location of which are strictly individual.
For a further story about the biology and pathology of flies, it would be advisable to characterize flies into groups.
The housefly is no longer found in the wild. Manure, feces, garbage are places. Where the larvae of the housefly, a constant companion of human settlements, develop.
The reproduction rate of this species is amazing. At one time, the female lays on average about 100-150 eggs. With sufficient nutrition, oviposition is repeated at intervals of 2-4 days. During a hot summer, flies produce 8-9 generations. If
If all the offspring of one fly survived, then by the end of summer the total number would be more than 5 trillion individuals.
The full development cycle takes place in 10-20 days. It depends on the ambient temperature; at a temperature of 30C it lasts 8 days, at 35C – 6 days.
The most favorable environment for the development of flies is pig manure, especially mixed with concentrated feed. In such manure there are up to 8 thousand larvae per 1 kg. Larvae emerge from eggs after 1-2 days. They have no head and look like small worms. The larvae have extraintestinal digestion. They liquefy food by releasing digestive juices into it. After 7-10 days, the larvae begin to pupate, i.e. covered with a dense chitinous shell. After 5-7 days, the imago emerges from the pupa. It should dry out within 1-2 hours, so the fly
runs fast, but cannot fly yet. After 4-5 hours the moha can eat, and after 5-6 days the females will begin to lay eggs. Thus, flies undergo complete metamorphosis. A fly lives on average 1 month. In warm rooms, flies overwinter in an active state and are even able to reproduce. Larvae and pupae overwinter in cold rooms.
The next group of flies are the flies. On the territory of Russia there are 5 types of livers: autumn, horse, small cow, southern cow and just cow.
These flies are active bloodsuckers. They feed on animals and people. The development of these flies (metamorphoses) follows the pattern of a housefly. The most active years of the zhigalok begin from August to October. There is a popular belief that by autumn house flies become “evil”, i.e. they begin to feed on blood, but this is not true. Although flies are very similar in appearance, their feeding patterns are different. After feeding on blood 6-7 hours later, females lay eggs either in fresh feces or in rotting grass or silage. Females can lay up to 500 eggs in their lifetime. They make 3-4 clutches per season. They live for about 1 month.
The larvae emerge from the eggs after 24 hours, and after 5-7 days they turn into pupae. The pupal phase lasts 4-5 days, then the adult emerges. The flies also dry out within 2-3 hours and begin to feed on blood. Females begin laying eggs after 2-4 days. Full development takes from 12 to 24 days.
Zhigalki attack mainly old, weakened animals, which often have dark fur.
Field flies. These include: Siberian field fly, viviparous field fly and simply field fly. In appearance they look like a housefly, but they never fly indoors. Field flies are most observed in July-August. Their main food is discharge from the eyes and nose of animals, as well as droplets of blood from wounds or after bites of other insects. In addition to blood, they can feed on nectar and
plant juices, liquid manure. Favorite locations on animals are the nose and eyes. These flies are capable of flying up to 15 km in search of a host. The development cycle lasts 8-15 days. Flies overwinter in the adult and pupal stages.
Flesh flies. These flies include carrion flies, green blowflies, blue blowflies and gray blowflies.
Blue and green blowflies appear in early spring, in March or April. These flies have a characteristic coloring. The main breeding place is the accumulation of garbage, meat waste, carcasses of animals and fish. Flies have high fertility. During her life, which is 165 days, a female blue fly makes 17 clutches, each containing 3 thousand eggs. At a temperature of 18-22 C, their cycle lasts about 20 days. Only the larvae overwinter.
Gray blow flies. Flies of this family are viviparous. The most dangerous fly for animals is the Wohlfarth fly, the larvae of which cause myiasis.
Adult flies live in pastures and feed on plant sap. As the larvae mature, the female throws them out of herself into wounds, ulcers, eyes, ears and other natural openings. The larvae are mobile and have hooks on the front edge for attachment. The larvae feed on living tissue, causing suffering to animals. They can eat away large areas of muscle, down to the bone. If the female does not expel the larvae, they will begin to eat the female from the inside. There are many cases where a person became a victim of larvae.
Females lay 100 to 200 larvae. They develop in wounds for 3-5 days, then leave the animals, burrow into the ground to a depth of 15 cm and pupate. After 15-18 days the fly emerges from the pupa, and after 10-15 days the females become sexually mature.
Bloodsuckers. On horses and dogs you can see large insects that quickly move around the body, bite animals and suck their blood. Sheep's wool can also
Many of you have seen the moose bloodsucker. It is mistakenly called moose louse. At the end of summer (August and September) there are especially many of them in the forest. These bloodsuckers have one peculiarity. A winged insect hatches from the pupa and flies in search of a host - a provider. As soon as a bloodsucker attacks an elk, its wings break off and it becomes wingless.
So, we have looked at most representatives of zoophilic and synanthropic flies, and what is their danger to animals and humans.
Let's move on to consider the second question.
It is known that flies are carriers of many pathogens of infectious and invasive diseases. It is estimated that the number of microbes on the surface of the body of flies reaches 6 million, and in their intestines 28 million. Most pathogens are able to retain their pathogenic properties in the body of flies for more than 5 months. It has been experimentally proven that houseflies can carry the anthrax microbe.
Typhoid and paratyphoid bacilli, dysentery bacillus, Vibrio cholera, tuberculosis bacillus, and the causative agent of diphtheria were found in the flies.
Flies can be active spreaders of microbes that cause or complicate mastitis in cows. The most dangerous are licking flies.
The role of livestock in the transmission of tularemia and erysipelas in pigs is known.
Why can flies carry such a large number of microbes? The ability of flies to transmit infectious agents is largely determined by the fact that almost all microbes and viruses retain their pathogenicity while remaining on the fly’s body for a long time.
Flies are capable of spreading protozoa, fungal spores, and mites.
Burner flies are one of the main carriers of Su-auru, and the autumn fly is capable of transmitting 6 types of trypanosomes and 3 types of spirochetes.
Flies can mechanically transmit helminth eggs and larvae. It has been established that roundworm eggs on the surface and in the intestines of houseflies remain viable for up to 2 days. In this regard, gray and blue carrion flies are especially dangerous.
It was discovered that when feeding on trichinosis meat, flies will swallow Trichinella larvae, and when these flies are swallowed, animals develop trichinosis, i.e. flies act as reservoir hosts for Trichinella larvae.
Flies can spread the eggs of taeniaids, including echinococcus.
Flies pose a great danger as intermediate hosts of thelyasia (cowflies).
The horse fly is an intermediate host of the nematode parafilaria, the autumn fly and the housefly are intermediate hosts of horse dragas and gabronema.
To date, about 200 helminths have been identified whose development cycle is associated with flies or other insects.
Flies can carry pathogens over long distances, as they fly from breeding sites to a distance of up to 20 km.
A massive attack of flies greatly disturbs animals, interfering with their rest and eating food. Animals suffer especially greatly from attacks by blood-sucking flies, which not only bite animals painfully, but also cause significant blood loss. On one
a cow can feed up to 1000 individuals. Milk yield decreases from 10 to 40%.
The huge mass of flies around animals and on farms negatively affects the productivity of livestock farmers and blows. workers.
With open and free access to moist concentrated food, flies often lay many eggs in it repeatedly. Subsequently, a huge number of larvae hatch from the eggs, which fill the food, eat it and make it unsuitable for feeding. Carrion flies especially often spoil protein feed (meat, fish).
In addition to concentrates and protein feeds, flies can also spoil plant feeds. The most favorable environment for the development of fly larvae is silage, especially from sunflower and corn. 100 grams of such silage can contain up to 85 larvae.
Flies significantly reduce the sanitary quality of meat and dairy products, making them completely unsuitable for consumption. Most often this happens due to free access of flies to animal products when they are stored improperly. Blue carrion flies lay their eggs on meat. At meat processing plants, if the cooling and storage conditions of carcasses are violated, losses can reach 10%.
The cheese fly especially spoils the products, laying eggs not only on cheese, butter, but also on ham and other products. The larvae of this fly are extremely resilient. They retain their viability in dry salt and strong saline solution (brine), and in gastric juice for up to 120 hours.
While in barns, flies prefer to feed mainly on milk, reducing its sanitary quality, since many microbes come from the surface of the flies’ bodies. Flies do not lose the opportunity to bathe in milk.
10 cm long and up to 2.5 cm deep. Such wounds are completely filled with a teeming mass of larvae. Cases have been described in which the larvae of the Wohlfarth fly completely destroyed the eyes and scalp.
Having briefly examined the pathogenic effect of flies on the body of animals and humans, we move on to consider the last issue - the fight against flies.
The fight against flies has an ancient history, although the term “disinsection” itself was first used by N.R. Gamaleya in 1910. In the same year, Porchinsky proposed a scheme for the destruction of the larvae of the autumn fly and housefly in manure and waste.
The success of controlling flies is based on knowledge of their biology and the ability to prevent their mass reproduction using various techniques.
The most rational and justifiable in practice are complex measures, including preventive and exterminatory measures.
In the fight against flies, preventive measures are decisive. Their goal is to create, by all available means, conditions under which flies are deprived of the opportunity to feed and reproduce. This group includes the following activities:
1. general sanitary
2. special veterinary.
General sanitary measures include: maintaining the cleanliness of farm premises and territories with daily cleaning and removal of manure to storage facilities, maintaining sanitary order in populated areas.
Carrying out sanitary measures is facilitated by proper planning and placement of livestock buildings (in a high place so that there is good drainage of slurry, concreting and closing the manure storage facility). Summer camps for animals are located no closer than 5 km from the farm.
Work must be carried out throughout the calendar year. It is necessary to remove manure in a timely manner: with a mechanical manure removal system - daily, with a hydro-alloy system - at least once every 2 weeks. In addition, with the onset of the warm season, farms must be cleared of manure, subjecting it to mandatory biothermal treatment. Sometimes it is advisable to dry it by spreading it in a thin layer, followed by plowing. Walking areas are paved and cleaned every 3-5 days.
Particular attention should be paid to the sanitary condition of maternity rooms, milking parlors and feed kitchens. Do not allow food residues to accumulate, as flies can lay eggs there.
On farms, sanitary days are required, when dust and debris are removed, surfaces are whitewashed, and cracks and potholes are repaired.
Extermination activities.
The volume of extermination measures and methods of their implementation depend on the sanitary condition of the farm, climatic conditions and the characteristics of fly biology that prevail in a given period of time in a particular area. These measures include treating fly breeding sites, destroying larvae and adults.
The breeding sites of flies are treated with insecticide emulsions:
Karbofos-0.2%
Cyodrine - 0.2%
Creolin -10%, and also use microbial preparations:
Bitoxibacillin
Turigin their consumption is 1-5 liters per 1 cubic meter.
Bleached lime is sprinkled on the breeding areas of flies at the rate of 1 kg per 1 sq.m.
In May, September and October, treatments are carried out once every 2 weeks, and in the summer after 5-7 days.
Extermination of imago.
For wet disinfestation of premises the following is used:
Chlorophos -1% with soda ash -0.5%
Karbofos -0.5%
Neocidol-0.5%
Permethrin - 0.05%
Cypermethrin - 0.05%
The consumption rate of these products is 50-200 ml per 1 square meter. m.
To disinfest premises in the presence of animals, aerosols obtained as a result of a chemical reaction are used. To do this, take equal amounts of KOH, chlorophos and water, at the rate of 1 kg per 1000 cubic meters. meters. The exposure lasts 30 minutes. The drugs are applied using automatic dispensers.
When fighting flies, you should always remember that extermination measures only complement and strengthen sanitary and preventive measures.
In addition to adhesive tapes, you can prepare insecticidal solutions that are placed in various containers. Such baths are called “puddles of death.” An example of such a solution: Add 1% of any insecticide to sweet syrup, or add 1% insecticide to kvass.
You can prepare dry mixtures, for example, sugar is mixed with an insecticide.
As with other insects, various chemical insecticides are used against flies.
The most widely used drugs are from the group of FOS, pyrethroids and carbamates.
FOS: chlorophos, trichlorometaphos, karbofos, cyodrine, neocidol,
dursban, dichlorvos. The drugs are used in concentration
from 0.5 to 3%.
Pyrethroids: stomozan, neostomozan, ectamine, tsimbush, ambush,
Byticol, hinmix. The drugs are used in concentrations from 0.025 to 0.075%.
Carbamates: Sevin is used in a concentration of 0.5 to 1%.
All of these drugs are used in different forms:
aqueous and oily solutions, suspensions, emulsions, powders.
Aerosols have become widespread, such as
Wolfazol
Dichlorvos
Akrodex
The preparations can be applied to environmental objects, i.e. carry out disinfestation using special automatic disinfestation units such as LSD, aerosol generators AG-16, etc.
Treatment of the skin of animals is done using a veterinary disinfection machine (VDM), a dismountable spray bar (SRR), a prefabricated automatic sprayer (OSA-1), etc.
To protect animals, ear tags and collars impregnated with insecticides are used.
In milk receivers and feed shops, where spraying is undesirable, poisoned baits are used, consisting, for example, of taking molasses or meat or fish waste and adding 0.5% chlorophos and 0.5% ammonium carbonate to them. Baits are placed in places where insects accumulate. Renew baits every 10-15 days.
Pheromone baits containing tricosene are also used.
In order to achieve maximum effect from the drugs, the following conditions must be met:
1. Before choosing an insecticide, it is necessary to determine the species composition of flies and the degree of their distribution in a given area.
2. Based on the biological characteristics of the predominant fly species, determine the timing of treatment of animals and environmental objects.
3. Use medications strictly according to instructions.
4. To avoid the development of drug resistance in insects, you should alternate drugs from different chemical groups.
Promising methods of controlling flies include the following:
In 1975, Canadian scientists proposed using an artificial analogue of the housefly sex attractant (cis-9-tricosene). When it is sprayed in negligible quantities into the air, male flies become overly excited and lose their ability to fertilize. In this way, within 2 months, a decrease in the population was achieved, and in some regions, their complete absence.
Entomologists are of great interest in the use of chemical preparations for sexual sterilization of insects. Additives and baits of 10% aqueous solutions of thiophosphamide and dipine were tested with positive results. The potency of the males does not decrease, but the larva does not develop from the eggs. Experiments were carried out on carrion flies and autumn flies.
In conclusion, I would like to say that it will never be possible to completely get rid of flies, and this should not be achieved. Our task is to reduce the number of flies within reasonable limits so as not to disturb the ecological situation.
1 - head; 2 - compound eyes; 3 - oral apparatus;
4 - thoracic region; 5 - dorsal region; 6 - abdomen;
7 - front legs; 8 - middle legs; 9 - hind legs;
10 - wings
Morphology
Imago. Small, medium and large flies. Body color is mainly grey, brown or black, sometimes yellow or blue and green. The last two have a metallic tint.
The body and legs are covered with numerous hairs and bristles.
The frontal stripe is limited by an alley of setae running from the antennae to the crown.
The forehead sometimes has two intersecting setae.
The second antennal segment has a longitudinal suture on the outside.
The alar scales are highly developed.
The chest scales often protrude from under the wing scales.
The abdomen in both sexes is most often oval.
The wings, like all flies, are transparent, membranous with transverse and longitudinal veins and cells limited by the veins.
On the lateral sections of the metathorax, as in all flies, above the posterior spiracles there are flask-shaped formations of the “halestere”.
The abdomen is represented by four segments, the last of which forms the genital appendages (hypopygium in males and ovipositor in females).
Sexual dimorphism. Individuals of different sexes differ in the structure of their genitalia. Secondary sexual characteristics:
Egg white, elongated oval.
Larva worm-shaped, like all flies, consists of 13 segments, of which the second and third are fused. The head and 11 body segments are clearly distinguishable. One of the abdominal segments is modified into an anal plate. The body is pointed in front and thickened in back. The last segment is cut obliquely and the posterior spiracles (one pair) are located on it. On the ventral side of each of the eight segments there are ridges with which the larvae move.
Doll located in a light, gradually darkening puparia.
Exit of a fly from the puparia
Features of biology
The biology of representatives of the family of True flies is extremely diverse.
Adults primarily feed on the sap of flowering plants, some are predatory.
A small number of species are bloodsuckers. In particular, s.
There are many synanthropic flies that are significant in the spread of infectious diseases. These species include (Musca domestica), Muscina stabulans, Fannia canicularis and many others.
The larvae of most species develop in rotting organic remains of animal and plant origin. In this case, they either process the substrate or eat other, carnivorous larvae.
Some larvae, for example, Muscina stabulans, at the first instar feed on the substrate, but when they become stronger they turn into a predator and eat the larvae of other dipterans.
The most active predators are the faces of the Common toothpole (Hydrotaea dentipes).
The competition among dung inhabitants is very tough. In order to survive, some flies switched to viviparity and lay not eggs, but rather large larvae. Thus, larvae of the genus Dasyphora are in the female’s body until the third instar.
Interesting facts
Maliciousness
Representatives of the family of True flies, especially synanthropic species, are mechanical carriers of various dangerous infections.
Blood-sucking species of the family belong to the vile family and negatively affect the health of humans and animals.
Control measures
Preventive measures
To prevent the appearance and spread of the blue blowfly (Calliphora uralensis), the following measures are used:
Extermination activities
Mechanical pest control methods
- Thorough cleaning of premises;
- Fishing in traps with bait;
- Fishing with sticky tape containing an attractant that attracts insects;
- Use of protective nets and curtains.
Mechanical methods are not the main methods of fly control, since they cannot prevent the spread of flies and provide complete protection to people.
Chemical methods of disinfestation
To exterminate adult flies, insecticides of all known groups are used. Poison baits, sticky tapes and sheets are widely used.
Resistance of flies leads to the use of mainly food poisoned baits.
Understanding what flies eat is one way to prevent them. By properly storing, disposing of food, and cleaning areas where food is consumed or prepared, the likelihood of these pesky insects can be greatly reduced.
Flies are an important group of insects x and have a significant impact on the environment. Some species, such as leafminers, fruit flies Tephritidae and Drosophilidae, and gall midges (Cecidomyiidae) are pests of agricultural crops; others such as the tsetse fly, the blowfly and the botfly attack livestock, transmitting diseases that create significant economic losses.
Some species, such as drain flies (Psychodidae), affect human health by participating as vectors of major tropical diseases: midges cause river blindness, sand flies cause leishmaniasis. These insects are a nuisance to humans, especially when present in large numbers; they contaminate food and spread foodborne illnesses.
Who are flies and what do they eat?
Flies are insects from the order Diptera(diptera). The name of the order comes from the Greek δι- di two and πτερόν pterion wings. Insects of this order use only one pair of wings to fly, and the hind wings have been transformed into organs that act as high-speed rotational motion sensors and allow the dipterous flies to perform complex aerobatic maneuvers.
Flies have a movable head with a pair of large compound eyes and mouthparts that perform piercing, cutting, licking and sucking functions. Their wings give them great maneuverability in flight, and their claws and foot pads allow them to cling to smooth surfaces. These insects undergo complete metamorphosis; the eggs are laid on a larval food source, and the larvae, which lack limbs, develop in a protected environment, often in their food source. A pupa is a hard capsule from which an adult emerges.
These insects are capable of laying eggs within any decaying biological material. The rate at which the larvae reach the individual adult state, in turn becoming capable of reproducing individuals, is approximately ten days.
Habitat
These insects are found on almost all continents except Antarctica. More than 150,000 species have been officially described, but the actual species diversity is much greater.
Flies have a significant ecological significance. They are important pollinators, as they were among the first pollinators responsible for the early pollination of plants. These insects are the second largest group of pollinators after Hymenoptera (bees, wasps, etc.). In humid and cold regions of the Earth, they, as pollinators, are much more important than bees, since compared to bees, they need less food, since they do not need to feed their larvae.
But these insects also cause harm, especially in some parts of the world where they are found in large numbers. Large species such as tsetse flies cause significant economic losses to cattle.
The food spectrum of these insects is very wide. and varies from species to species. Their diet includes nectar and rotting corpses, fruits and feces, fresh blood and dried bread.
Like other insects, they have chemoreceptors that detect smell and taste, and receptors that respond to touch. The third segment of the antennae and maxillary corpuscles bear the main olfactory receptors, and taste buds are found in the lips, pharynx, legs, wings and female genital organs, allowing flies to taste their food by walking on it. Taste receptors in females at the tip of the abdomen receive information about the suitability of the site for ovipositor.
Flies that feed on blood have special sensory structures that can detect infrared radiation and use it on the body of their hosts. Many blood-sucking species can detect increased concentrations of carbon dioxide that occur near large animals. Species that feed on the blood of vertebrates can transmit some diseases.
What do larvae eat?
What do species that live near humans eat?
Flies are most active when it's warm. They are attracted to human habitation because of the warmth and smells emanating from there.
Adults feed and lay their eggs on organic decayable material which includes: fruits, vegetables, meat, animals, plant excretions and human feces. Both males and females also feed on nectar from flowers.
House flies
These insects eat all human food and human feces. They only feed on liquids, so they are able to convert solid foods into liquid using enzymes in their saliva. They are attracted to various substances, such as:
- overripe fruits and vegetables;
- human and animal feces;
- sweet substances.
Domesticated species are generally limited to human habitats, but these insects can fly several kilometers from where they were born. They are active only during the daytime.
Fruit flies
Fruit flies, or fruit flies as they are also called, are attracted to fermented foods and liquids, which is why they are so common in homes and food processing plants. Fruit flies look for foods such as:
- liquids: beer, wine, cider, vinegar;
- fruits such as: fruits, vegetables;
- sweet products.
Small fruit flies can be carriers of various diseases.
Carrion flies
This name includes several species and representatives of which are quite large insects with a metallic blue, green, bronze or black sheen. They are usually the first insects to appear after the animal dies. These flies prefer fresh or rotten meat, animal corpses and feces.
Who eats flies
These insects are food for other animals at all stages of their development. The eggs and larvae are eaten by other insects, and some vertebrates specialize in feeding on flies. This:
Most of them consume flies as part of a mixed diet.