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Animal profile

Housefly

Musca domestica

InsectaHuman settlements, farms, refuse and animal dung wherever the climate is warm enough

Field profile

The housefly is a grey, four-striped fly of about 6 to 7 millimetres that completes its life cycle in decaying organic matter, dung and refuse. Females lay eggs in batches of roughly a hundred, and the pale larvae reach the pupal stage within days in warm conditions. It is among the most thoroughly studied insects associated with human dwellings.

Scope note

This is an editorial profile, not a diagnostic field-identification guide or a substitute for current conservation assessments. Follow the cited sources on each fact for the evidence trail.

Published field notes

2024-12-12

Housefly

The housefly must liquefy its food first

A housefly has no jaws at all. It lands on solid food, floods it with saliva and regurgitated crop fluid, waits while the mixture dissolves, then mops up the solution through a spongy pad. A fly that walks over a meal has usually also drunk from it.

Read with evidence →

Housefly | Daily Animal Facts