housefly

Etymology

From house + fly. Cognate with Dutch huisvlieg (“housefly”), Danish husflue (“housefly”), Swedish husfluga (“housefly”), Faroese húsfluga (“housefly”).

noun

1. Any fly regularly found in human dwellings.
   1. The common housefly, Musca domestica, that frequents most homes and spreads some diseases.
      Of the three potential means (carriage on the body and legs, regurgitation and defecation) by which houseflies can transmit pathogens, one involves passage through the gut. During passage through the housefly, pathogens may replicate within the gut. 1990, D. C. Kaslow, S. Welburn, “16: Insect-transmitted pathogens in the insect midgut”, in M. Lehane, P. Billingsley, editors, Biology of the Insect Midgut, page 454
      In the housefly, M. domestica, sex pheromone production is correlated with egg development. 2004, R. Jurenka, “Insect Pheromone Biosynthesis”, in Stefan Schulz, editor, The Chemistry of Pheromones and Other Semiochemicals I, page 123
      Houseflies are known to carry at least 100 different pathogens and they are vectors for at least 65 of these. 2011, Ross Piper, Pests: A Guide to the World's Most Maligned, Yet Misunderstood Creatures, page 102