False stable fly
Muscina stabulans
The false stable fly looks a lot like a house fly. It has four dark stripes on its back and partly reddish-brown legs. It likes farms and animal sheds more than cities.
Lives in
Many parts of the world, especially farms and countryside
Length
8 mm (0.31 in)
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
It does not bite or sting. But it lands on dung and rotting things, so keep food covered and wash your hands.
What does it eat?
Its maggots eat rotting things like old fruit, mushrooms, dung and dead animals.
How big is it?
How long is it?
💅small enough to sit on your fingernail⚽could fly across a whole football pitch in 47 seconds⚡moves 280 times its own body length every second
How big is False stable fly compared to YOU?
Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.
How fast is it?
A person walking about 5 km/h (3.1 mph)
False stable fly about 8 km/h (5 mph)
A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
Its maggots can wriggle down through several centimetres of soil to find food.
2
It is busy all year, but there are the most of them in summer.
3
It is often found in chicken houses and other animal sheds.
4
Its belly can be all black or black with red sides.
you asked
Most asked questions about False stable fly
?Is the false stable fly a house fly?
No, but they are close relatives and look very much alike.
?Does the false stable fly bite?
No. It does not bite people.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Muscina stabulans
- Group
- Flies and mosquitoes
- Family
- Muscidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Diptera > Muscidae
- Lives on
- North America, South America, Asia
Where the facts come from
- Muscina stabulans (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Alvesgaspar. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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