Class Insecta
Order Diptera
Family Calliphoridae
Blow Flies
Flies of the family
Calliphoridae, have shiny, metallic coloration so that they are often known as
green-bottles or blue-bottles. They generally range from ¼- to ½-inch long, and
are characterized by metallic blue-, green- or copper-colored bodies. In urban
areas they are sometimes more abundant than house flies. Females lay eggs on
garbage containing meat scraps, as well as on dead animals and animal wounds.
They may also deposit eggs onto feces-caked hair or wool on pets and other
domestic animals.
The more regularly used common name for members of this
family is blowfly, a name that arose because when their larvae (maggots)
infest meat they render it "flyblown" making it unfit to eat. Feeding activity
by the maggots causes putrefaction, resulting in the production of gases that
give the meat a blown up appearance.
There are bristles on
the both sides of their thorax and abdomen tip. The adult Blow
fly feeds on nectar, honey dew and
other sweet liquid, or liquid products of organic decomposition. Most blowfly
adults are active during day time. Blowfly larvae usually live in carrion or dung,
which help for decomposition. Some species are parasitic on earthworms or land
snails. Some live in termites or ants nest.
Larvae (maggots) develop rapidly in warm
weather, and maggots often reach their full size on the second or
third day after hatching. The entire life cycle usually requires
between 10 and 25 days. If an animal or bird has died indoors and is
hidden in a chimney, wall void or ceiling, a sudden population of
adult blow flies may be seen a number of days later. As maggots
mature, they move away from the carcass to pupate.
Maggots occasionally pass through spaces in
the wall or ceiling, for example around a light fixture, and drop to
the floor. This is a temporary situation, and will end when all food
is consumed. This may take up to a week for a small animal such as a
squirrel. Adult flies may become a nuisance in the fall, when they
may enter homes to overwinter. On warm winter days, they may become
active inside, but do not reproduce.
