CATDOLL : CATDOLL: How flies reproduce

How do flies reproduce?

Under suitable temperature, male houseflies can reach sexual maturity and mate 18 to 24 hours after emergence and female houseflies can reach sexual maturity and mate 30 hours after emergence. Mating usually takes place between 5:00 and 7:00 in the morning. Sensitive sense of smell, sex pheromones and vision are all important factors that promote mating between male and female flies. A mating pair of houseflies can stay in one place for a long time, crawling together, flying together, and the effective mating time can be up to 1 hour. Most houseflies only mate once in their lifetime. The semen of male flies can be stored in the spermathecae of female flies for a long time, stimulating egg laying, and the eggs can be continuously fertilized for 2 to 3 weeks without mating with another male fly. This is rare in other insects. This is the important reason why flies have strong fertility.

The peak period of egg-laying is from 17:00 to 19:00 every day. The length of the pre-oviposition period of female flies (i.e. the time from emergence to the first egg-laying) is closely related to the ambient temperature: an average of 9 days at 15°C, only 1.8 days at 35°C, and no eggs can be laid at temperatures below 15°C. After mating, female flies often crawl into breeding crevices such as human and animal feces, extend their ovipositors and lay eggs deep inside the breeding organisms to ensure that the eggs are fully protected.

Flies have amazing fertility. It has been observed that houseflies in the laboratory lay about 100 eggs per batch, and one female fly can lay 10-20 batches of eggs, with a total of 600-1000 eggs. In nature, each female fly can lay 4-6 batches of eggs in its lifetime, with an interval of 3-4 days between each batch, and each batch of about 100 eggs, with a lifetime egg production of 400-600 eggs. Even in North China, houseflies can reproduce 10-12 generations a year. According to the most conservative estimate, each female fly can produce 200 offspring, so 100 female flies only need 10 generations to reproduce a total of 200 trillion flies!

1. Eggs: The eggs are milky white, banana-shaped or oval, and about 1 mm long. There are two ridges on the back of the egg shell, and the membrane between the ridges is the thinnest. The larvae drill out from here when hatching. The development time of the egg stage is 8 to 24 hours, which is related to the ambient temperature and humidity. The eggs will not develop below 13°C, and will die below 8°C or above 42°C. Within the following range, the incubation time of the eggs shortens with the increase of temperature: 20 hours at 22°C; 16 to 18 hours at 25°C; 14 hours at 28°C; and only 8 to 10 hours at 35°C. The humidity of the growth medium also affects the hatching rate of the eggs: the hatching rate is highest when the relative humidity is 75% to 80%; the hatching rate is significantly reduced when it is below 65% or above 85%.

2. Larvae: The larvae of flies are commonly known as maggots, and there are three stages: the first-stage larvae are 1 to 3 mm long and have only the posterior spiracles. After molting, they become the second-stage larvae, 3 to 5 mm long, with anterior spiracles and 2-cleft posterior spiracles. After molting again, they become the third-stage larvae, 5 to 13 mm long, with 3-cleft posterior spiracles. The body color of maggots changes from transparent and milky white to milky yellow from the first to the third stage until they mature and pupate. The third-stage larvae are oblong cones, with a pointed front end and a truncated rear end, without eyes or feet. The life characteristics of maggots are that they like to drill holes, fear strong light, and live in dark places away from light where they breed all day long. They are polyphagous, and all kinds of corrupt and fermented organic matter are their delicious food. The larval stage is a critical period in the life of flies. The quality of their growth and development is directly related to the individual size and reproductive efficiency of the fly.

Under suitable temperature and humidity conditions, male houseflies reach sexual maturity 18 to 24 hours after emergence and female houseflies reach sexual maturity about 30 hours after emergence, and begin to mate and lay eggs. Mating usually takes place between 5 and 7 in the morning. A mating pair of houseflies crawls together, flies together and lives together, and the effective mating time is up to 1 hour. Most houseflies only mate once in their lifetime. The semen of male flies can be stored in the spermathecae of female flies for a long time, stimulating egg laying, and fertilizing the fly eggs for 2 to 3 weeks without mating with male flies again.

The peak period of egg laying is generally between 17:00 and 19:00 every day. After mating, female flies often crawl into the cracks of breeding materials such as human and animal feces, extend their ovipositors and lay eggs deep in the breeding materials to protect the eggs.

In nature, each female fly can lay 4 to 6 batches of eggs in her lifetime, with an interval of 3 to 4 days between each batch. Each batch contains about 100 eggs, and the total number of eggs laid in total is 400 to 600.

mate, then lay their eggs on dirty organic matter, which then hatch into maggots, which then become flies

When breeding flies, how can we make them lay more eggs?

Feed it enough food, plenty of sunlight, and make sure the temperature is high enough, so that the flies lay more eggs and the maggots grow fast. This is how I raise maggots to feed eels and salamanders, and the effect is very good. You can try it.

Artificial insemination