Australian bush fly
| Australian bush fly | ||||||||||||
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Bush fly on flower |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Musca vetustissima | ||||||||||||
| Walker, 1849 |
The Australian bush fly (Musca vetustissima) is a fly from the family of real flies (Muscidae).
description
The bush fly has the typical body shape of real flies . With a body length of typically 4 to 7 millimeters, it is slightly smaller than the housefly , which is also very common in Australia today , from which it can also be distinguished by its overall grayer color in the field. The wings are crystal-clear, hyaline, with inconspicuous yellowish veins and conspicuously white-colored wing scales (tegulae), the fourth longitudinal artery with an angular kink. The complex eyes are colored red and hairless, they meet on the upper side of the head in the male ("holoptic"), in the female they are widely separated. The body, including the legs and palps, is predominantly black in color and extensively pollinated with gray. In the female, the abdomen is covered with black and whitish dust above and below, in the male the tergites of the first two segments are black, those of the third and fourth are yellow with a broad black central band, the fifth is black, the sternites of the first four are also yellow. The drawing of the middle part of the trunk ( mesothorax ) is characteristic of the species and the best distinguishing feature . The broad section of the tergum, called the mesoscutum or simply scutum, is dusted gray with two longitudinal lines (vittae), dark due to lack of pollination, which are undivided at the back and fork into two parallel bands in the front section (in front of the transverse seam).
The size of the imaginal flies is extremely variable in this species, depending on the food quality in the larval stage. Well-nourished larvae produce flies with a body length of 8 millimeters (rarely more) and 14 milligrams in weight, poorly nourished larvae only reach 3 millimeters and 1.5 milligrams.
Food and reproduction
The bush fly feeds exclusively on liquid food, including in particular the body fluids of mammals such as sweat, tears, saliva, urine and, in the case of open skin or wounds, blood and wound secretions. She picks up these liquids with her (non-piercing) proboscis and feeds on their organic components.
The bush fly lays its eggs in the feces of other animals, especially cattle , sheep and kangaroos . Maggots hatch from the eggs, which later pupate and then become flies, with the time span from oviposition to pupation ( puparium ) being around six days.
distribution
The bush fly is native to Australia and is found across the continent as well as Tasmania . However, it occurs only seasonally in the south of the continent and on Tasmania during the warmer seasons and is absent in winter. It migrates every spring from the northern areas, where it can reproduce all year round, to the southern areas, where it only occurs seasonally.
Bush fly as a disease vector
The Busch sun can transmit several diseases, including humans, the trachoma and rabbits the Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease . In general, the bush fly is seen as a nuisance to humans and livestock.
Combat
Since the bush flies reproduce particularly well in cattle droppings, cattle farming favors their frequent occurrence. To make matters worse, the native flora and fauna can not effectively decompose the cow dung and so the flies can lay their eggs for a long time. In order to reduce the fly population, beetles that process faeces were introduced from Europe and Africa, especially Bubas bubalus , which is native to south- western Europe .
Others
The bush fly is the main reason for the so-called "Aussie salute" (German: Australian greeting ), a widespread hand movement with which one tries to keep the flies away from the mouth, nose and eyes.
Web links
- Common Bush Fly - Musca vetustissima on brisbaneinsects.com
Individual evidence
- ^ AC Pont (1973): Studies on Australian Muscidae (Diptera). IV. A revision of the subfamilies Muscinae and Stomoxyinae. Australian Journal of Zoology, Supplementary Series 21 (21): 129-296. Musca vetustissima on pp. 147-169.
- ^ RD Hughes, PM Greenham, M. Tyndale-Biscoe, JM Walker (1972): A synopsis of observations on the biology of the Australian Bushfly (Musca vetustissima Walker). Australian Journal of Entomology 11 (4): 311-331. doi: 10.1111 / j.1440-6055.1972.tb01635.x (free access)
- ↑ a b Genelle Weule: Saluting a great Australian: The bush fly . ABC January 30, 2017
- ↑ M. Begon, JL Harper, CR Townsend: Ecology - individuals, populations and communities . Springer, 2013, ISBN 9783034861564 , p. 421
- ^ A b Gary R. Mullen, Lance A. Durden: Medical and Veterinary Entomology . Elsevier, 2002, ISBN 9780080536071 , p. 288
- ↑ Richard L. Guerrant, David H. Walker, Peter F. Weller: Tropical Infectious Diseases: Principles, Pathogens and Practice . Elsevier, 3rd edition, 2011, ISBN 9781437737776 , p. 310
- ^ Encyclopedia of Arthropod-transmitted Infections of Man and Domesticated Animals . Cabi, 2001, ISBN 9781845933166 , p. 420
- ↑ Ion Staunton, Phillip Hadlington, John Gerozisis: Urban Pest Management in Australia: 5th Edition . UNSW Press, 2008, ISBN 9781742247274 , p. 171
- ^ French dung beetle to battle Australia's bush fly in country's south-east . ABC, December 9, 2016
- ↑ Leigh W. Simmons, T. James Ridsdill-Smith: Ecology and Evolution of Dung Beetles . Wiley, 2011, ISBN 9781444341980 , p. 285