order
Coleoptera
“Adult Beetles”
Coleoptera
“Larval Beetles”
Diptera
“True Flies”
Ephemeroptera
“Mayflies”
Hemiptera
“True Bugs”
Lepidoptera
“Aquatic Caterpillars, Snout Moths”
Megaloptera
“Alderflies, Dobsonflies, and Fishflies”
Odonata
“Dragonflies and Damselflies”
Plecoptera
“Stoneflies”
Trichoptera
“Caddisflies”
family
Muscidae
genus
Musca
“House Flies”
Genus Overview
Common house fly larvae, occasionally collected in aquatic systems.
Characteristics
POLLUTION TOLERANCE
FEEDING HABITS
Piercer / Predator
MOVEMENT
Sprawler
DISTRIBUTION
Widespread (east of the Rocky Mtns.)
HABITAT
Lentic-littoral
Lotic-depositional
Lotic-depositional
Diagnostic Characters
Order
Legs Absent
Family
Head Not Externally Sclerotized
Last Segment Blunt, Smooth
Mouth Hooks Moving Vertically
Posterior Spiracles each with 3 Slits
+ Expanded Character List
Order:
Wings and wing pads absent. Eye spots sometimes visible, but compound eyes absent. Segmented legs absent, but sometimes fleshy prolegs present. Sometimes with distinct head, often without head or with head drawn deeply into thorax. Body flattened, cylindrical, or maggot-like.
Family:
head is not evident, but is reduced to some sclerotized rods inside the thorax; there are no segmented legs; the posterior end of the abdomen is blunt and smooth, without lobes, spines, or ridges.
Genus:
Not defined.
Dorsal
Lateral
Ventral