Each female fly can lay approximately 500 eggs in several batches of about 75 to 150. The eggs are white and are about 1.2 mm in length. Within a day, larvae (maggots) hatch from the eggs; they live and feed in (usually dead and decaying) organic material, such as garbage or feces. They are pale-whitish, 3–9 mm long, thinner at the mouth end, and have no legs. They live at least one week. At the end of their third instar, the maggots crawl to a dry cool place and transform into pupae, colored reddish or brown and about 8 mm long. The adult flies then emerge from the pupae. (This whole cycle is known as complete metamorphosis.) The adults live from two weeks to a month in the wild, or longer in benign laboratory conditions. After having emerged from the pupae, the flies cease to grow; small flies are not young flies but are instead the result of getting insufficient food during the larval stage. The male mounts the female from behind Some 36 hours after having emerged from the pupa, the female is receptive to mating. The male mounts her from behind to inject sperm. Copulation takes between a few seconds to a couple of minutes. [3] Normally the female mates only once, storing the sperm to use it repeatedly for laying several sets of eggs.

1. CHAPTER SIX
MUSCIDAE

2. Acknowledgement
 Addis Ababa university
 Jimma university
 Haramaya university
 University of Gondar
 American society of clinical pathology
 Centre for disease prevention and control- Ethiopia

3. OUTLINE
 Introduction
 Morphology
 Life cycle
 Adult behavior
 Medical importance
 Control
 Myiasis

4. Learning objective
After completing the chapter the student should be
able to:
 Explain the biology of House flay , Stable fly , Lesser
house fly
 Discuss the role of house fly in transmission of disease
 Discuss methods of prevention and control of house flay

5. 7.1. Introduction
 Family Muscidae
 Species:
 Musca domestica (house fly)

6. 7.2. Morphology
 Grayish in color
 Body divided into head, thorax & abdomen
 Head carries:
 2 compound eyes close in the male (holoptic) and
apart in the female (dichoptic)
 3 simple eyes (ocelli) between the compound eyes
 2 antennae between the compound eyes (each with
3 segments) the distal segment contains arista

7.  Proboscis: soft and retractile adapted for sucking
 Feeds on liquid diet or solid diet after liquefying it
by the saliva.

8.  Thorax:
 4 longitudinal dark stripes
 3 pairs of short hairy legs each ending in a pair of
claws with 2 puvilli in between
 One pair of broad wing attached to the mesothorax
 One pair of halters attached to the metathorax

9.  Abdomen:
 Pyriform, with 4 segments
 Dorsal median longitudinal dark
stripe
2. Egg:
 Bannana – shaped with 2 longitudinal
ridges
 Creamy white

10. 3. Larva:
 Worm – like, tapering anteriorly and blunt
posteriorly
 Composed of head, thorax (3 segments) and
abdomen (8 segments)
4. Pupa:
 Barrel – shaped , brownish
 Enclosed in the last larval skin (coarctate)

11. 7.3. Life cycle
Fertilized
female need
blood for egg
development
The female lay
eggs in mass in
organic matter,
garbage, refuse
or manure
Larva comes out
Larva moult 2
times giving 3
larval stages
(instars)
The 3rd larva
moults to give
the pupa
Adult Male and
female mate

12. Life cycle

13. 7.4. Adult behaviour
 The eyes of flies are among the most complex in the
insect world.
 They have compound eyes with many individual
facets, each representing a separate light-detecting
unit..
 Flies taste, smell, and feel with the hairs that cover their
bodies.
 Flies use other hairs to tell them when they touch
something.

14. 7.4. Adult behaviour
 The eyes of a fly do not have eyelids, so flies rub their
eyes with their feet to keep them clean.
 A fly cleans itself constantly.
 Flies walk on smooth surfaces using sticky soft pads that
act like glue

15. 7.5. Medical importane
 Indirect mechanical transmission of microorganism
(as typhoid, poliomyelitis and bacillary dysentery, eggs
of helminthes and cysts of protozoa
 Accidental myiasis

16. 7.6. Control
 Sanitary disposal of refuse, garbage and manure
(breeding media) by dumping, burning or application
of insecticides
 Screening or space spraing of insecticides

17. 7.7. Myiasis
 Synonym : (Toche – Oromifa; Dukundukit –
Amharic)
 Myiasis: the invasion of organs and tissues of
humans or animals with dipterous larvae,

18. 7.7. Myiasis
Types of myiasis:
1. According to the habit of the fly:
 Obligatory (Specific) myiasis: larvae
develop only in living tissues E.g.
Dermatobia
 Facultative (Semi – specific) myiasis: larvae
are normally free living, but under certain
conditions they may infect living tissues.
E.g. Calliphoridae

19.  Accidental myiasis: larvae may accidentally get
in the tissues.
 E.g. Musca, Fannia
2. According to habitat (type of tissue invaded):
 Intestinal Myiasis: accidental swallowing of eggs or
larvae on food.
E.g. Musca
 Gastric Myiasis:
E.g. Eristalis
7.7. Myiasis

20.  Urogenital Myiasis: egg laid on urethral
opening.
E.g. Fannia (latrine flies)
 Cutaneous Myiasis:
 Traumatic or wound myiasis
E.g. Calliphoridae
7.7. Myiasis

21.  Creeping eruption/myiasis
E.g. Hypoderma
 Nodular myiasis:
E.g. Dermatobia
 Ocular Myiasis:
E.g. Sarcophaga
 Nasopharyngeal Myiasis: E.g. Sarcophaga
7.7. Myiasis

22. Diagnosis and treatment of myiasis
 Diagnosis:
 Finding larvae in the lesion.
 These are identified by the characteristic
posterior spiracles.
 Living larvae may be reared to adult stage for
identification.
 Treatment:
 Removal of larvae

23. Summary
 The common name for musca domestica is house
fly
 House flies feed on liquid or solid diet after
liquifying it by the saliva
 House flies have thorax which has 4 longitudinal
dark stripes
 House flies transmit disease indirectly and direct
agents of myiasis

24. Summary ...
 Myiasis is the invasion of organs and tissues of
humans or animals with dipterous larvae,
 Several types of myiasis are there classified
based on the habit of the fly and type of tissue
invaded

25. References
1. Muscidae– Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Htm
2. A. Ibrahim, U. Geme, T. Melaku and G. Jigssa, Lecture
note on vector biology for Medical Laboratory Technology
students, AAU, 2004
3. www. cdc.gov.