Pigeon louse fly
The pigeon louse fly is a flat little fly that lives in the feathers of pigeons and doves. It hides between the feathers and drinks a little of the bird's blood. Pigeons and doves are its only wild homes.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
In 1931 a scientist tested whether it could live on human blood. It could not, so it sticks to birds.
It can carry a tiny germ called pigeon malaria from one pigeon to another. Most pigeons stay well, but very young ones can get sick.
Bird lice sometimes cling to the fly and ride along to a new bird, like passengers on a bus.
The fly itself often carries even tinier passengers: little mites.
In captivity it has been found on many kinds of birds, not only pigeons.
Most asked questions about Pigeon louse fly
?Do pigeon flies bite humans?
They are biting flies, but they cannot live on human blood. Their real hosts are pigeons and doves.
?Where do pigeon louse flies live?
In the feathers of pigeons and doves, in warm places around the world where pigeons are kept.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Pseudolynchia canariensis
- Group
- Flies and mosquitoes
- Family
- Hippoboscidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Diptera > Hippoboscidae
- Lives on
- Africa, Europe, Asia, North America, South America
- Also known as
- Pigeon fly
Where the facts come from
- Pseudolynchia canariensis (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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