Locomotor Behavior of Sarcophaga bullata
             in response to various light stimuli
             The species Sarcophaga bullata (flesh fly) is from the Kingdom Animalia, Phylum Arthropoda and Class Insecta. Flesh flies live all over the world, generally in warm, moist climates. The flesh fly goes through the process of complete metamorphosis that consists of four stages: egg, larva (=maggot), pupa, to adult in about eight days. Through these different stages of metamorphosis the flesh fly is a parasite and a self-sustaining organism until it reaches full maturity. The job for the fly is then to disperse the species and reproduce. Flesh flies can be both pests and important aspects to human lives. They help in biological research and in criminal investigations but they also carry diseases that can harm humans.
             The locomotor response is greatly dependent on inherited behavior also known as innate behavior. This means that the stimulus appears to trigger a fixed response that does not vary according to the previous experience of the organism, commonly found in invertebrates. Two terms, taxis and kinesis can describe innate locomotor responses. Taxis is an automatic movement directly toward or away from a stimulus. Kinesis is random movement, caused by a stimulus but not necessarily oriented by it. The ability for a flesh fly to reproduce is greatly dependent on light and temperature. Flesh flies are dependent on light and temperature. They completely develop before the food supply is exhausted; the rate at which the flesh flies develop is one of the most important factors in determining both the survival and reproductive success of the flesh fly larvae. Warm, long days and lots of sunlight increases the rate at which larvae develop into pupae and most successively into adult flies. The female flesh fly deposits the living larvae into decaying flesh of dead animals or feces. This is the stage where they are specialized for feeding and ...