Waste-recycling
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Musca
house flies, face flies
Musca is a genus of calyptrate flies in the family Muscidae, containing approximately 70 species worldwide. The genus includes Musca domestica, the common house fly, one of the most widespread and synanthropic insects on Earth. Musca species are characterized by their association with human habitation and livestock, with larvae developing in decaying organic matter. Adults are medium-sized, robust flies with distinctive head morphology including aristate antennae and well-developed chaetotaxy.
Musca domestica
house fly, common house fly
Musca domestica is a cosmopolitan synanthropic fly and the most abundant insect in confined cattle operations. Adults are small (6–7 mm), gray with four dark longitudinal stripes on the thorax and creamy yellow abdominal sides. They do not bite but feed on blood, sweat, tears, saliva, and other bodily fluids, causing cattle to exhibit defensive behaviors including ear flapping, head shaking, and feeding hesitancy. The species completes development from egg to adult in as little as two weeks under optimal conditions, with up to 12 generations annually in temperate climates. Females deposit 75–150 eggs per batch in decaying organic matter, particularly manure and rotting vegetation. House flies are mechanical vectors of over 200 pathogens including E. coli, and can infest cattle wounds with maggots.