{{Short description|Species of fly}} {{Speciesbox | image = Musca.autumnalis.female.jpg | taxon = Musca autumnalis | authority = De Geer, 1776 | synonyms = *''Musca corvina'' <small>Fabricius, 1781</small> * ''Musca restitituo'' <small>Harris, 1780</small> * ''Musca restituo'' <small>Harris, 1776</small> }} [[File:Musca autumnalis - 2012-10-21.webm|thumb|''Musca autumnalis'' on Apiaceae flowers]] '''''Musca autumnalis''''', the '''face fly''' or '''autumn housefly''', is a pest of cattle and horses.

== Description ==

The face fly is similar to the closely related housefly but is slightly larger, averaging about 7–8&nbsp;mm long and grey in colour with four dark stripes on the thorax, with a grey-black patterned abdomen. Like many true flies, in the males, the eyes almost touch when viewed from above.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Gregor, F. |author2=Rozkosny, R. |author3=Bartak, M. |author4=Vanhara, J. |year=2002 |title=The Muscidae (Diptera) of Central Europe |pages= |publisher=Masaryk University|series= Scientiarum Naturalium Universitatis Masarykianae Brunensis 107 |location= Masaryk}}</ref>

== Distribution == thumb|left|Male ''Musca autumnalis'' ''Musca autumnalis'' is widespread throughout most of Europe, Central Asia, northern India, Pakistan, China and some parts of North Africa.{{cn|date=December 2022}}

It was introduced into North America around the 1940s and has now occupies a territory from southern Canada into most temperate parts of the United States. It was also introduced to St. Helena Island in the South Atlantic.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Pont, A.C. |author2=Werner, D. |author3=Kachvoryan, E.A. |year=2005 |title=A preliminary list of the Fanniidae and Muscidae (Diptera) of Armenia|pages=73–86 pp|publisher=Zoology in the Middle East 36}}</ref>

== Lifecycle == Adult face flies will emerge from winter hibernation around March to early April. During the daytime, they feed on manure juices and plant sugars. On cattle and horses, they feed on secretions around the eyes, mouth and nostrils. The adult flies will also feed on the hosts' blood through wounds such as horse-fly bites. A larger proportion of face flies on the host will be females, as they have a higher need for protein provided by animal hosts. At night, both sexes will rest on vegetation.{{cn|date=December 2022}}

Females deposit eggs on fresh cow manure and these hatch within hours after deposition. The yellowish-white maggots feed on the microbial flora and fauna of the manure and pass through three larval stages (instars), growing to about 12&nbsp;mm long, then developing into white pupae. They emerge as adults about 10 to 20 days after egg deposition, depending on the temperature.{{cn|date=December 2022}}

== As a vector of disease ==

''M. autumnalis'' is considered a pest species, as it transmits the eyeworm ''Thelazia rhodesi'' to cattle and horses, and pinkeye (infectious bovine keratoconjunctivitis) to cattle.{{cn|date=December 2022}}

As for human disease, ''M. autumnalis'' may have transmitted the eyeworm ''Thelazia gulosa'' to a woman's eye in Oregon in 2016<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.livescience.com/61732-eye-worm-oregon.html|title=Weird Worm Crawling in Oregon Woman's Eye Has Only Been Seen in Cows|work=Live Science|access-date=2018-02-12}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Bradbury|first=Richard S.|last2=Breen|first2=Kathleen V.|last3=Bonura|first3=Erin M.|last4=Hoyt|first4=John W.|last5=Bishop|first5=Henry S.|date=2018-02-12|title=Case Report: Conjunctival Infestation with Thelazia gulosa: A Novel Agent of Human Thelaziasis in the United States|journal=The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene|volume=98|issue=4|pages=1171–1174|language=en|doi=10.4269/ajtmh.17-0870|pmid=29436343|pmc=5928835}}</ref> and to a second woman's eye in Carmel Valley, California in 2018.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.livescience.com/parasitic-eye-worm-trail-run.html|title=Woman Gets Parasitic Worms in Her Eyes After a Trail Run|work=Live Science|access-date=2019-11-04}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q1075544}} {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Musca Autumnalis}} Category:Muscidae Category:Insect vectors of animal pathogens Category:Veterinary entomology Category:Flies of Europe Category:Articles containing video clips Category:Insects described in 1776 Category:Taxa named by Charles De Geer