Question

The larva of a housefly is called a…….

Answer 1

Hint: The housefly (Musca domestica) is a common insect in the Muscidae family (order Diptera). Houseflies account for roughly 90% of all flies found in human dwellings. Houseflies, which were once a major nuisance and hazard to public health in cities, remain a problem wherever decomposing organic waste and garbage are allowed to accumulate.

Complete answer:
Adult house flies are dull grey in colour, with dirty-yellowish areas on the abdomen and longitudinal lines on the thorax. The body size is approximately 5 to 7 mm (0.2 to 0.3 inch), and the prominent compound eyes have approximately 4,000 facets. The housefly cannot bite because it has sponging or lapping mouthparts; however, a close relative, the stable fly, does bite.

The surface-tension properties of a secretion produced by tiny glandular pads (pulvilli) beneath each claw on the feet allow the housefly to walk on vertical window panes or hang upside down on a ceiling. In a single batch, a female housefly can lay up to 150 eggs. Over the course of a few days, she'll lay five or six batches of eggs. Female house flies prefer moist, dark surfaces for egg laying, such as manure, compost, and other decomposing organic material. Some house flies lay rice-grain-shaped eggs.The female lays more than 100 slender whitish eggs (0.8 to 1 mm long) at a time, yielding between 600 and 1,000 eggs in her lifetime.

These eggs hatch in a matter of 12 to 24 hours. The dirty-whitish maggots (larvae), about 12 mm long, transform into pupae after several moults. Maggots are legless white insects that feed for 3 to 5 days from the egg-laying site. Maggots will hatch several times during this period. They then select a dark location to pupate.When the adults are ready to emerge, they expand a pouch (ptilinum) on the head and break off the end of the puparium.

The larva of a housefly is called maggot.

Note: Houseflies may carry millions of microorganisms on their feet, which, in large enough quantities, can cause disease. Larvicidal drenches or dusts can be used to treat garbage, manure, and other wastes that cannot be made inaccessible to flies. Residual insecticidal sprays can keep flies at bay for several weeks; however, some houseflies have developed resistance to certain insecticides, such as DDT.