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Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
housefly
noun
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ Alice Foley, growing up in Bolton during the 1890s, remembered the plague of houseflies emanating from the privies in summer.
▪ Cluster flies are bristly gray insects, about five times bigger than the ordinary housefly, Musca domestica.
▪ Even as I listened to him, mosquitoes, fat as houseflies, feasted on my legs.
▪ Thousands of individuals, each not quite as big as a housefly make up the swarm.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
housefly

housefly \house"fly`\ n. 1. common fly ( Musca domestica) that frequents human habitations and spreads many diseases.

Syn: Musca domestica.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
housefly

also house-fly, early 15c., from house (n.) + fly (n.).

Wiktionary
housefly

n. 1 Any fly regularly found in human dwellings. 2 # The common housefly, ''Musca domestica'', that frequents most homes and spreads some diseases.

WordNet
housefly

n. common fly that frequents human habitations and spreads many diseases [syn: Musca domestica]

Wikipedia
Housefly

The housefly (also house fly, house-fly or common housefly), Musca domestica, is a fly of the suborder Cyclorrhapha. It is believed to have evolved in the Cenozoic era, possibly in the Middle East, and has spread all over the world. It is the most common fly species found in habitations. Adult insects are grey to black with four dark longitudinal lines on the thorax, slightly hairy bodies and a single pair of membranous wings. They have red eyes, and the slightly larger female has these set further apart than the male.

The female housefly usually only mates once and stores the sperm for later use. She lays batches of about 100 eggs on decaying organic matter such as garbage, carrion or feces. These soon hatch into legless white maggots which after 2 to 5 days of development transform into reddish-brown pupae, about long. Adult flies normally live for 2 to 4 weeks but can hibernate during the winter. The adults feed on a variety of liquid or semi-liquid substances beside solid materials which have been softened by saliva. They carry pathogens on their bodies and in their feces and can contaminate food and contribute to the transfer of food-borne illnesses. For these reasons they are considered pests, but have been used in the laboratory in research into ageing and sex determination.

Usage examples of "housefly".

And then I began one of my least favorite morphs - the common housefly.

The surplus value accumulation of larval feeding gives way to lavish expenditure: the extravagant coloration of the butterflies, the coprophilic copulation of houseflies and others.

Braving dhobis and houseflies, I concealed myself in the unclean place.

So cultivate your inner housefly or cockroach, instead of your inner child.

The female Musca domestica, or common housefly, typically lays 600-1,000 eggs in the course of her roughly two-month lifetime, most of which grow to maturity in 10-12 days, upon which they can set about raising little maggots of their own.