4. Did you know?
There are over
A fly is an insect and insects are 40,000 known
special animals. Flies go through species of flies.
a complete metamorphosis, And you thought
going from egg to larva or there was only
maggot, then pupa to adult one kind, the
stages within a week. They look annoying kind.
very different in each stage. All
the stages together are called a
life cycle.
Lets find out more.
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5. Did you know?
The fly regurgitates
or vomits on the
food to chemically
break down the
substance before
The common house fly sipping up their
belongs to the group of flies meal through their
known as the filth fly. They straw-like
were given their name for mouthparts.
their habit of laying their eggs GROSS!!
in moist, decaying organic
matter, particularly manure
and garbage.
Now lets see how they grow.
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6. The adult female fly can lay
up to 500 eggs in batches of
75 to 100 over a period of 3 Did you know?
to 4 days. If temperatures
The common
are high, eggs may hatch house-fly only
within 8 hours, otherwise it lives for 15-25
may take 1 to 2 days for days
them to hatch.
Now lets look at the
different stages of growth.
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7. Stage One - First the adult
female fly, which is bigger
than the male fly, lays
hundreds of tiny eggs.
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8. 4-7 days
since eggs
were laid
Stage 2 - Here the eggs
have hatched into larvae
or another name for them
is maggots. The maggots
feed on the organic
material in which they
were laid.
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9. 10-20
days since
eggs were
laid
Stage 3 – When the maggots stop
feeding they burrow into the dry
surrounding areas for protection.
This is where they pupate. During
the pupa stage, change takes
place.
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10. .
Stage 4 – When ready, the fully developed
fly comes out of the pupa. The mature
adult fly is now ready to reproduce and
continue its life cycle.
Click here to see the full life cycle
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12. The easiest way to keep flies out of your
home is to keep things clean. Don’t leave
food lying around, make sure to take out
the garbage on a regular basis and wipe
up messes straight away.
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13. Life cycle: the series of changes of form
and activity that a living organism
undergoes from its beginning through to
maturity. Back
15. lar-vae
larvae: the wingless immature worm-
shaped form of many insects that
develops into a pupa or chrysalis before
becoming an adult insect. Back
20. Link to QCAR Essential Learnings Year 5
Ways of working
Students are able to
• draw conclusions that are supported by evidence, reproducible data and
established scientific concepts.
• reflect on learning to identify new understandings and future applications.
Knowledge and Understanding
• Scientific ideas can be used to explain the development and workings of
everyday items.
Life and living
Living things have features that determine their interactions with the
environment.
• Living things can be grouped according to their observable characteristics
e.g. flies are insects
• Reproductive processes and life cycles vary in different types of living things
e.g. flies develop through stages
• Living things have relationships with other living things and their environment
e.g. the relationship between a fly and its surroundings is mutually beneficial
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21. References:
Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations 2008, Primary
connections linking science and literacy: schoolyard safari, Australian Academy of
Science, Australia.
QSCC 1999, Years 1-10 source book: science, Qld Gov, Brisbane
The Readers Digest Association 2001, Word power dictionary, Oxford University
Press, London.
www.answers.com, first cited 15/11/08
www.creatures.ifas.ufl.edu/urban/flies/house_fly, first cited 10/11/08
www.images.google.com, first cited 10/11/08
www.office.microsoft.com/en-us/clipart/default, first cited 09/11/08
www.qsa.qld.edu.au/downloads/assessment/qcar_el_science_yr5, first cited
09/11/08
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