Housefly

Musca domestica · The housefly is a small gray-to-black fly that has spread around the world alongside humans, from the Arctic to the tropics.

Also called House fly.

Housefly
Photo: USDAgov, CC BY 2.0
Housefly
Photo: Esin Üstün from Istanbul, Turkey, CC BY 2.0
Housefly
Photo: Amuzujoe, CC BY-SA 4.0

Taxonomy

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumArthropoda
ClassInsecta
OrderDiptera
FamilyMuscidae
GenusMusca
SpeciesMusca domestica

Where it lives

Worldwide wherever people live, on farms and in towns.

Fun facts

  • Houseflies see the world in slow motion compared with us, processing visual information about seven times faster than humans, which helps them dodge swats.
  • Houseflies taste with their feet, so they can identify foods such as sugars just by walking over them.
  • When a housefly rubs its legs together, it is cleaning its taste sensors so they can taste afresh whatever it walks on next.
  • To land on a ceiling, a housefly flies straight at it, makes a half roll just before landing, and sticks down with its legs.

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Facts and taxonomy adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).