Like the butterfly the life cycle of the common fly is divided into 4 parts.

1) The adult (fly) whose main function is to reproduce.

2) The egg

3) The larva (maggot) whose function is to eat as much a possible.

4) The pupa (resting stage before the adult emerges)

The process by which the larva or maggot changes to the adult fly is known as Complete Metamorphosis.

An interesting fact about maggots

Maggots are extremely clean creatures. They are wrongly labelled as dirty because of the places they are found feeding. Unlike most creatures, maggots fully metabolise their food. In otherwords they do not produce any waste. They feed only on dead matter and for this reason they were used by prisoners of war to clean wounds. In the jungles of Asia many soldiers died from wounds that became infectious. Soldiers placed maggots into their wounds to clean the dead flesh and prevent bacterial infections such as gangrene. The role of maggots prevented many limbs from been amputated and as a result many lives were saved.