Flies are a group of species of the order of Diptera present worldwide, among which are the domestic fly (Musca domestica), the fruit fly (Ceratitis capitata) and the vinegar fly (Drosophila melanogaster).
The life of a fly goes through four phases: egg, larva, pupa and adult fly.Like most insects, flies undergo a series of morphological transformations called metamorphosis.Read on because in this Article Animal Expert, we’ll explain how the fly’s life cycle is unfolding.
- If you’re in this article you’ve probably wondered how flies breed.
- Until the 17th century they thought these insects spontaneously appeared in decaying meat.
- However.
- Francisco Redi showed that it wasn’t.
- But that the flies were leaving.
- Through a cycle and descended from an existing fly.
As with all insects, fly breeding occurs only in the adult state, before this happens the male must woo the female, for this the male emits vibrations that also help control its position during flight, so the flies have a great distinctive sound.
Females appreciate the male’s singing and its smell (pheromones) is very pleasant, if you decide that you do not want to mate with this male, it continues to move, instead if you think you have found the perfect companion, stay calm so that you can start mating.The sex act lasts at least 10 minutes.
The life cycle of flies begins with the egg phase, so we can say that these insects are oviparous, or at least most of them, a small number of flies are ovoviviparas, that is, the eggs explode within the females and the larvae usually come out directly during spawning.
After mating, the female looks for a good place to lay her eggs, the chosen location depends on each species.The domestic fly lays its eggs in decaying organic waste, such as decomposed meat, so flies are always in the trash.The fruit fly, as the name suggests, lays its eggs on fruits such as apples, figs, peaches, etc., the number of eggs in each batch ranges from 100 to 500, and over its lifetime they can lay thousands of eggs..
Soon, these eggs will hatch. The larvae of the flies emerge, which are usually pale and wide; popularly they are often called verses.The main function of the larvae is to feed on as much as they can to increase their size and grow properly.The diet also depends on the fly species.As you can imagine, domestic fly larvae feed on decaying organic waste, while those of the fruit fly feed on fruit pulp.That’s why he’s already found “worms” in the fruit, but they’re actually fly larvae.
When they have eaten enough, the larvae are covered with a kind of darker colored capsule, usually brown or reddish, this is called nymph, at this stage the animal does not feed or move, apparently the chrysalis is an inactive being, but in reality suffers a process of metamorphosis.
Metamorphosis is the biological process by which the larva becomes an adult fly; during this period, your body differs into three parts: the head, chest and abdomen, and have legs and wings.After this transformation, the adult fly emerges from the pulp in the same way as butterflies, in the adult state the reproductive process begins.
The duration of the fly’s metamorphosis depends on the temperature; in summer, when temperatures are higher, this process occurs quickly; during the winter, the flies remain in the chrysalis until the heat returns, so the flies do not bother during the colder seasons.If they take refuge well, they can survive into adulthood until spring.
It is not easy to respond to the shelf life of a fly because it depends on the species and living conditions, however, it can be said that the life cycle of flies usually lasts between 15 and 30 days, being considered one of the animals with the shortest shelf life.
The warmer the climate and the better it feeds, the longer a fly can survive, it doesn’t seem like much time, but only thousands of eggs have to be laid, this efficiency has allowed flies to colonize the whole world, adapting to everyone.possible environments.
Flies aren’t just those uncomfortable animals that many think, some species of flies are quite beneficial to humans, so let’s explain some curiosities about flies that show how much more interesting they are than they seem:
If you want to read articles similar to How long does a fly last ?, we recommend that you visit our Curiosities of the Animal World section.