How Long Do House Flies Live?

How Long Do House Flies Live - Photo by westernexterminator

How long do House Flies Live? It is a question many people ask themselves when a pest enters their home. When it reaches its adult stage, the common fly or house fly usually lives for three weeks.

These flies are the most common insects in the world. They reproduce easily and feed on garbage, dirt, feces, spoiled food, or already rotten.

Below you can learn a little more about House Flies and how you can identify them.

What are House Flies?

The House Fly is a very common pest and is the best known in all homes in the world. These flies are very annoying and can transmit diseases, they can measure between 5 to 8 millimeters, and their eyes are dark red. Its abdomen is dark gray, and its head is dark gray with black stripes; it has antennae and wings.

This fly is covered with small hairs that serve as its taste organs. Your eyes are very complex, made up of thousands of individual lenses that allow you to widen your vision.

Female House Flies have wings slightly larger than males, but males have longer legs. You can find them in the garbage; this is where they are born and where they eat. They generally like moisture and manure.

You can always see them frequently in stables, farms, and landfills. When summer comes, they go into the houses in search of coolness. House Flies prefer edges and corners to rest. Outside you can see them resting on the floor, walls, ceilings, or any object.

The places of night rest will always be close to the garbage that is their food source. They can lay their eggs in any material that is moist and warm. Females can lie between 5 and 6 batches of 75 to 100 eggs.

 

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How To Identify A House Fly?

House Flies are dark gray and have six legs; their body is small and oval. Adults can be 4 to 7.5 mm long and have antennae. You can find them anywhere globally, House Flies have four black stripes on the thorax, and their bodies have light hairs. The eyes are dark gorse with thousands of lenses so they can have excellent vision. They have wings, and the females are usually larger than the male fly. These flies have neither teeth nor stingers.

The eggs of common or House Flies are similar to a grain of rice. In hot climates, the eggs hatch into larvae in 12 to 24 hours; these larvae are known as worms. House Fly worms are cream-colored and greasy in appearance.

House Flies take advantage of holes in open walls, doors, or windows to enter your homes. They are attracted by the air current and also by smells. You can see them in any season of the year, but you will mainly see them in summer and spring.

House Fly worms can be 3 to 9 mm long.

How Long Do House Flies Live? 

Do you want to know about how long house flies can live? If yes, you are in the right place. When it reaches its adult stage, the common fly or house fly usually lives up to 4 weeks. Everything will depend on the food supply and your temperature in the place they are.

Houseflies do not bite, but they can transmit over 100 different pathogens, such as tuberculosis, yellow fever, salmonella, etc. They can contaminate surfaces by the organisms they pick up on their paws and their mouths when they feed on feces, garbage, and spoiled food. Also, flies constantly defecate.

Life Cycle Of A House Fly

House Flies have four stages in their life cycle: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. The life of a House Fly can be between 15 and 30 days, and as already mentioned, it will depend on the temperature and the food.

House Flies can develop quickly and can outlive House Flies outside. As they have a short life cycle, they can develop more rapidly, so control them before you have an infestation if they are in your home.

If you have problems with these flies, seek help to eliminate them correctly and quickly.

A female House Fly can lie up to 150 eggs in a single batch. In a few days, she can produce 5 to 6 lores of eggs; females prefer dark and warm surfaces such as manure and compost to lay their eggs.

You can also look for places like decomposing organic materials for your eggs. The eggs of House Flies are similar to the individual grains of rice.

Just one day, the eggs of common flies can turn into larvae; these larvae are also called maggots. The worms or larvae have no legs and are light in color, like cream. They feed on the place where they are for 3 to 5 days; in that time, the worms molt several times. After this time, they choose a dark place to pupate.

The pupae in House Flies are similar to the cocoons of butterflies. The hard brown shells protect the developing fly; in 3 to 6 days, these pupae develop legs and wings. In this way, the adult House Flies emerge.

Within 2 to 3 days, female House Flies can reproduce. And so the life cycle of typical or House Flies begins again.

Also Read: How to Get rid of Crane Flies in Your Lawn Naturally

Factors Affecting House Fly Lifespan

Among the factors that can affect its useful life are:

  • The environment

The environment has an essential factor in the lifespan of House Flies. This fly can thrive in hot and humid places. All tropical and subtropical regions are ideal climates for House Flies.

  • The diet

Access to food is another factor that can affect the life cycle of House Flies. Flies tend to live close to their food sources, such as garbage, feces, and remains of organic matter. Some studies indicate that a House Fly in a suitable environment and adequate food can live up to 45 days. Flies away from a food source can live for only ten days.

  • Season

Seasons and seasons can also affect the lifespan of House Flies. Houseflies are most active in warmer seasons, such as spring and summer. In the winter, the flies hibernate, and in this period, the domestic flies’ metabolism slows down.

Author James