Geographic Range & Habitat
The green bottle fly has been found in all parts of the world, it lives comfortably in warmer coastal climates but can still be found in countries with cooler climates.
The bottle fly survives best in warmer conditions, thriving at 80˚F but struggles when temperatures dip below 50˚F.
The bottle fly is commonly found around rotting food, corpses, and in wounds of animals. It can also be seen on flowers as they commonly feed on nectar when in need of additional food sources.
The green bottle fly has been found in all parts of the world, it lives comfortably in warmer coastal climates but can still be found in countries with cooler climates.
The bottle fly survives best in warmer conditions, thriving at 80˚F but struggles when temperatures dip below 50˚F.
The bottle fly is commonly found around rotting food, corpses, and in wounds of animals. It can also be seen on flowers as they commonly feed on nectar when in need of additional food sources.
Life Cycle of the Green Bottle Fly (Blow Fly)
The Green Bottle Fly's life cycle is completed within in four stages. This is called complete or holometabolous metamorphosis.
Adult Green Bottle Fly - The adults are metallic green in color and range in size between 8-10mm. The life cycle of the bottle fly takes 2-3 weeks to complete. Depending on the weather they will have 3-4 generations a year. The female adult will lay approximately 200 eggs on meat, fish, animal corpses, infected wounds, and feces. "Flies have special sensory organs that enable them to immediately recognize decayed flesh that is suitable for feeding and egg laying" (Fleischmann 2004).
Eggs - The eggs of the green bottle fly hatch within 12-24 hours of the female depositing them. The warmer the environment, the faster the eggs will hatch.
Larvae - Commonly referred to as maggots the larvae of the bottle fly have three instars or life stages. They are smooth in shape, white to yellow in color, and able to breathe through spiracles. Their mouth parts are like hooks used to tear apart their food.
They are commonly found feeding together in groups of hundreds to thousands of larvae which may be correlated to temperature regulation and instar development. "In its short lifespan of nonstop feeding, a single maggot can process as much as 0.3g of nutrient substrate, or necrotic tissue, or pus and wound fluid" (Fleischmann 2004).
During optimal temperature, the lifespan of the instars is approximately 83 hours from start to finish, with the third instar having the longest life cycle. The cooler the temperature, the longer the instars take to develop. When the third instar has completed its growth cycle it will fall to the soil to pupate. The larvae are able to disinfect themselves of any bacteria during feeding. This process is important, otherwise a build up of bacteria would kill the pupae.
Pupae - The green bottle fly pupates in the soil surrounding their food source. The pupae's shell is hard, and approximately 10mm long and 4mm wide. Pupae development ranges from 7-10 days.
Food Sources - Larvae of the green bottle fly feed on dead and decaying tissue. The larvae are also known to feed in the wounds of animals and humans.
Adult green bottle flys are known to be excellent pollinators, feeding on the nectar of plants. In broad contrast to this, they can also be found feeding on feces. |