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Flies:
Flies have a pair of wings, lapping mouth and compound eyes that help to detect even the slightest movement. Flies are disease-transmitting insects. They can transfer bacteria to food or food preparation areas. The most common domestic flies in Ontario are the House Fly, the Lesser Fly, the Cluster Fly and the Blow Fly. House fly Adults are 0.8cm long. The female are slightly larger than the male. The house fly has a yellowish gray coloured abdomen with four longitudinal dark lines on the back. It has red compounded eyes. The female house flies lay up to 9000 eggs in their life time. They deposit their eggs in high protein containing substances. The larva emerge from hatched eggs and pupate in two weeks, and the pupa grow into adult in three days. A house fly’s life cycle is eight days long. The house flies feed on semi-digested liquid substance. The house flies are transmitters of up to forty bacterial diseases. Lesser fly Adults are 0.5 cm long. The lesser flies have four brown strips on thorax and yellowish abdomen. The larvae are 0.15 cm long and have a lateral projection. The lesser flies lay their eggs on decomposing vegetation, decaying and moist substances. The larvae emerge from the hatched eggs only two days after the eggs are laid. The lesser fly may survive over winter as larvae or pupae, and emerge into adults in March. The adult lesser flies live up to two months. Cluster fly Adults are 0.8cm long and dark gray in colour, and have golden coloured hair on their upper bodies. Their wings overlap when they are not flying. The female cluster flies, like other flies, can lay their eggs inside houses or outside, in the soil. The flies emerge from soil as adults in a month. They can give off odour when disturbed. They tend to invade houses between August and September. They cluster together to overwinter. Blow fly The adult blow flies are 1.5cm long and shiny metallic in colour. The larvae are less than 2cm long. Their most common egg deposit sites are garbage and carrion. The blow flies’ lifecycle is around 25 days. They are usually found in homes during winter and early spring. The blow flies are attracted to light. Their buzzing is noisy. |
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