Scientific Name: Musca domestica
Size: Total Length 8mm
What does it look like?
The House Fly thorax and abdomen is greyish (although the abdomen is paler), with four blackish longitudinal lines on the thorax, and a single pair of transparent triangular wings. The eyes are reddish and the mouthparts are sponge-like.
Where is it found?
Found throughout most of Australia and the rest of the world.
What are its habitats & habits?
The House Fly is abundant in urban and rural areas, wherever suitable breeding sites (human and animal waste) are found. It will investigate human foodstuffs, household rubbish, septic waste and rotting vegetable and animal matter, using its sponge-like mouthparts to suck up liquids and to regurgitate saliva onto more solid foods to break them down. In doing so, it transfers microscopic organisms between these sites as it travels, which can lead to diseases, such as salmonella, dysentery, hepatitis, cholera, poliomyelitis and typhoid fever.
This species features in my book A Naturalist’s Guide to the Insects of Australia