CreatureData

Common coffin fly

Megaselia scalaris (Loew, 1866)

Status not recordedinsects

The common coffin fly (Megaselia scalaris) is a species in the family Phoridae, order Diptera.

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Quick facts about the common coffin fly

Weight
Not recorded
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
Not recorded
Young per litter or clutch
Not recorded
Conservation status
Not recorded
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the common coffin fly live?

Not recorded

Where has it been introduced?

The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists the common coffin fly as introduced in 5 countries.

  1. Costa Rica
  2. Ecuador
  3. France
  4. Poland
  5. South Africa

Introduced means brought by people and now present; invasive means the country's checklist records an impact. A species can be native to one part of a country and introduced in another. Source: Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (CC BY 4.0).

Is the common coffin fly endangered?

No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.

How is the common coffin fly classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumArthropoda
  3. classInsecta
  4. orderDiptera
  5. familyPhoridae
  6. genusMegaselia
  7. SpeciesMegaselia scalaris (Loew, 1866)

Synonyms Aphiochaeta banksi, Aphiochaeta banski, Aphiochaeta circumsetosa, Aphiochaeta ferruginea, Aphiochaeta fissa, Aphiochaeta repicta, Aphiochaeta xanthina, Lioyella plusiivorax, Megaselia banksi, Megaselia circumsetosa, Megaselia conjuncta, Megaselia ferruginea, Megaselia ferrugines, Megaselia fissa, Megaselia forticapilla, Megaselia plusiivorax, Megaselia repicta, Obelosia plusiivorax, Phora conjuncta, Phora fissa, Phora scalaris

Other names and names in other languages (5)
  • Scaled hump-backed flyEnglish
  • Mosca jorobada escamosaSpanish
  • クサビノミバエJapanese
  • แมลงวันหลังค่อมเกล็ดThai
  • 疽症異蚤蠅Chinese

Catalogue of Life

Relatives of the common coffin fly

Other species in the same genus Megaselia.

CompareCommon coffin fly vs Mushroom flyCommon coffin fly vs Cave hump-backed flyCommon coffin fly vs Megaselia achatinaeCommon coffin fly vs Megaselia aciculata

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

Is the common coffin fly an invasive species?

The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists the common coffin fly as introduced in 5 countries: Costa Rica, Ecuador, France, Poland and South Africa, but does not flag it as invasive in any of them.

What kind of animal is the common coffin fly?

The common coffin fly (Megaselia scalaris) belongs to the family Phoridae in the order Diptera.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-14. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Common coffin fly (Megaselia scalaris). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-coffin-fly

MLA

“Common coffin fly (Megaselia scalaris).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-coffin-fly.

BibTeX
@misc{common_coffin_fly_2026,
  title = {Common coffin fly (Megaselia scalaris)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-coffin-fly},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-14}
}