Description and photo wolfarth flies

Wolfart fly - a representative of the family of gray meat fliescharacterized by the size and method of growing the larvae. A very aggressive insect against warm-blooded creatures is common in the Caucasus and in central Russia, in the south of Europe and in China, as well as in Mongolia and in the north of Africa. Habitats Sarcophila Wolfartii or wolfart flies are usually pasture for walking livestock and cattle farms.

Insect features

The Wolfart fly is often referred to as a tungsten fly. However, the latter name is incorrect. The insect is named after Wolfart - the doctor who first (in 1770) described this very dangerous creature. Body structure wolfhart flies are similar to ordinary room, but everything is presented in larger sizes.

• An individual of this species is large insect light gray color, the body size of which can be up to 14 mm in length.
• At the mesonotum, 3 dark longitudinal stripes are clearly visible, there are black spots on the sides of the ovoid abdomen.
• On a silver head are located faceted eyes, painted in a dark red color, there are also black tendrils and a licking proboscis type on it.
• The insect is the owner of a well-developed transparent wings. The whole body and limbs are covered with stiff hairs.
• Individuals differ in the structure of the genital organs. Males also have a wider forehead (a photo of a wolfart fly is presented below).

Wolfarth fly

Nutrition

Adult individuals spend most of their lives in the field. They used for food nectar of flowers, giving preference to umbrella inflorescences.Favorite delicacies of Sarcophila Wolfartii are also plant sap, a drop (liquid that aphids release), as well as liquid released from rotting wounds and liquid manure from livestock.

Breeding

Female lifespan from 1 to 4 weeks, males live much less. The development cycle of Sarcophila Wolfartii with complete metamorphosis. However, female viviparous - they do not lay eggs like their relatives, and carry them in their bodies. The born larvae go through 3 stages of maturation, gaps in which are 2 molts.

After 2 weeks from the moment of mating to the light, the first instar larvae appear, developing exclusively in the tissues of humans and warm-blooded animals. They leave the mother’s body in groups of 10–20.

On a note!

In total, a wolfart fly harbors up to two hundred larvae. The female tries to get rid of the larvae that begin to devour from the inside as soon as possible. It usually lays offspring in areas of damage to the skin (in various wounds and scratches), as well as on the mucous membranes of mammals.

Breeding wolfarth flies

Development of larvae

Externally newborns fly larvae resemble white worms, whose body length does not exceed 1.5 mm. Once in the new habitat, they try to hide in the folds of the skin as soon as possible or to penetrate the damaged places into its tissue. Especially attacks of parasites are subject to maxillary sinuses, auricles, eyes and gums.

Larger sizes are characterized by second instar larvae, whose body length already reaches 9 mm. Thanks to two mouth hooks, they eat away soft tissues, destroying blood vessels and nerve endings in the process. Pests are capable of getting down to the bones of the brain.

The larvae of the third age grow up to 2 cm, have a yellowish color and resemble a thick caterpillar. At this stage of development, the parasites stop biting the victim's body. Leaving it, they fall into the soil, from the structure of which depends the depth of their penetration. The process of pupation takes place in the same place: the outer shell of the larva hardens, forming puparia.

Interesting!

The adult larvae of the wolfarth flies try to crawl out of the wounds in the morning hours, until the soil is very hot.

At an ambient temperature of 26-28 degrees, the pupa stage takes up to 9 days; in cooler weather, the pupation process takes up to 3 weeks. At the end of this period, a young wolfarth fly (imago) appears from the pupa.

The larvae that fell into the soil in autumn remain wintering in the pupal stage, ending their development next spring.

Medical value

The bite of a wolfarth fly, or rather the attack of its larvae, can have very sad consequences. Insect is the causative agent of myase in humans and livestock. Volfartioz - a disease caused by extensive foci, the causes of which are the larvae. Penetration of parasites into the body often leads to loss of hearing and vision, the occurrence of sepsis, encephalitis, osteomyelitis, even fatal outcome.

If the larva fly volmart could bite a man, it must be removed with tweezers. The resulting myase is treated by washing the wounds with chloroform solution. In the event of the formation of ulcers, the necrotized area of ​​tissue is removed by a doctor, after which antibiotics are prescribed. For the treatment of wounds of animals using creolin or lysol.