Description and photos of meat flies (cadaver)

The meat fly or sarcophagid is a generic name that includes 2600 species. Insects are distributed around the world, in Russia there are 300 species. The meat fly breeds, feeds on troupes of vertebrate animals. Larvae develop in the same place. Other names for this insect are cadaveric, carrion. Flies help decompose flesh than benefit environment, but they also harm humanity - by spreading harmful microorganisms.

Appearance of meat flies

A large family includes 106 genera, 3 subfamilies. Outwardly they differ in size and color. The cadaverous flies that live on our territory practically do not differ from indoor pests.

• Body length from 5 to 25 mm. The average size of a meat fly is 20 mm.
• The color is gray with stripes, a checker pattern, black spots. Or shiny with tints of blue, green, yellow. Shines beautifully in the sun.
• The eyes are large bright red.
• Wings are transparent, slightly set aside.

A photo of a meat fly is presented below. The most common species in our area are gray, blue, green.

On a note!

Larvae of meat scavengers are of two types - smooth, hairy. They are worm-shaped, about 15 mm long. Smooth “cubs” feed on the juices of cadaveric meat, hairy ones — predators, eat the former, always appear on the corpse a little later.

Viviparous flies reproduce white larvae of miniature size - maggots. Other species of this family lay eggs. Round, yellowish in size, no more than 1 mm. They are arranged in piles. Worms go through three molts, gradually increasing in size. At the last stage, the worms burrow into the soil, pupate, come to the surface by adults. The whole development cycle from egg to imago under favorable conditions takes 11 days.

Breeding

Viviparous female meat flies give birth to small maggots of the first stage. This is the main advantage over the true carrion fly; it takes about 24 hours to hatch young offspring from eggs.

The larvae of flies on meat go through the entire life cycle to the last stage. After about 10 days of its existence, they burrow into the soil. In addition to cadaveric meat, they can develop in any rotting organic matter, feces, manure. There are maggots parasites that live in the wounds of insects - dogs, sheep, cows, horses, as well as in the body of insects, eating it from the inside. The hairy larvae of carrion flies eat smooth, offspring of other insects, grasshoppers, caterpillars, snails.

Adult meat flies live only 7 days. For his short life the female is able to lay about 20 thousand eggs, arranging them in groups. The winged insect is often found on flowers, various plants. Thus, they contribute to pollination.

Interesting!

The carrion fly and its development life cycle are well understood. According to the age of the larvae and their varieties - smooth, hairy, determine the date of death of a person in forensics.

Benefit and harm

All types of meat flies pose an epidemiological danger to humans, because they live on decaying organics, corpses. They eat there. They are mechanical carriers of pathogens - bacteria, viruses, parasites.The most dangerous disease is leprosy, the most common is intestinal infection.

Important!

Infection occurs by contact. Pathological microorganisms remain on the paws, the body of the insect. So from the feces, a meat fly lands on vegetables, fruits, meat, any other product. Eggs enter the human body in case of violation of hygiene rules - unwashed hands, products. Larvae are especially dangerous as distributors of myiasis - helminthic invasion in animals and humans.

The meat fly does much harm to fishing, laying eggs or larvae in salted, fresh fish. The product loses its presentation, is a threat to human health, life.

On the body of animals, where there are open wounds, females lay eggs, reproduce larvae. It attracts the smell of rotting flesh, bacteria on damaged skin. In living flesh, worms make moves, eat, and lead an active lifestyle.

Along with this, a meat or carrion fly brings extreme benefits, helping to decompose corpses. This cleans the environment.

Interesting!

During the First World War, a unique property of meat flies was discovered. Maggots settled in the wounds, ate rotting tissues, bones. Worm excretions prevented the growth of pathogenic bacteria, which stopped inflammatory, rotting processes, accelerated the healing process. In medicine, this method of therapy is used for poorly healing wounds. But the worms are taken exclusively sterile, bred in laboratory conditions.

Preventative measures

To prevent breeding meat flies you must follow certain rules:

• In places where the trash can is placed, it is necessary to concrete the soil, to lay asphalt. This will not allow the larvae to complete their life cycle.
• It is necessary to ensure timely release, removal of waste that attracts insects with the smell of rot. In the warm season, you need to take out the garbage from the apartment every day.
• Do not leave meat products on the tables. To prevent females from laying eggs or maggots, you need lard, grate meat with salt. The best option is to quickly put it in the freezer. Beef, pork, chicken, etc. can suffer.
• If you want to cook salted fish, you should add more salt to the brine than is required in the cold season. In this way, the product can be protected from malicious worms.
• In the warm season, it is recommended to install mosquito nets on the windows and doors, which will protect many pests from entering the house.
• On livestock, poultry farms, it is necessary to provide sewage.

To prevent illness, intestinal infection, you must impeccably follow the rules of personal hygiene, processing products. Wash hands with soap, vegetables, fruits, herbs thoroughly rinse under a stream of water or rinse with boiling water.