Housefly
Musca domestica Linnaeus, 1758
Status not recordedinsects
The housefly (Musca domestica) is an insect in the family Muscidae, part of the order Diptera. It belongs to the genus Musca, the tribe Muscini and the subfamily Muscinae, within the class Insecta and the phylum Arthropoda.
Quick facts about the housefly
The scientific name Musca domestica was given by Linnaeus, 1758. Other English names include House fly, House-fly, Indoor house fly and Common house fly.
- Weight
- Not recorded
- Length
- 6 mm – 7 mmsrc for Length
- Wingspan
- 1.3 cm – 1.5 cmsrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- 0.0383 years – 0.0767 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Carnivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Young per litter or clutch
- 100src for Young per litter or clutch
- Reproduction
- Eggssrc for Reproduction
- Active
- By day (diurnal)src for Active
- Conservation status
- Not recorded
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the housefly?
Photos of the housefly
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
.jpg){kind=link}
1 more photo exists under a licence we cannot display: view at source.
Where does the housefly live?
Not recorded
Where has it been introduced?
The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists the housefly as introduced in 6 countries, and flagged as invasive in 1 of them.
- Canary Islandsinvasive
- Costa Rica
- Denmark
- Ecuador
- Spain
- United States
Also listed for parts of: France (French Southern and Antarctic Lands Terres australes et antarctiques françaises (TAAF)).
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).
What is the housefly?
The housefly (Musca domestica) is a species of fly in the family Muscidae. From its place of origin, possibly in the Middle East, it has spread around the world as a commensal of humans. Adults are gray to black, with four dark, longitudinal lines on the thorax, slightly hairy bodies, and a single pair of membranous wings. They have red compound eyes, set farther apart in the slightly larger female.
The female housefly usually mates only once and stores the sperm for later use. It lays batches of about 100 eggs on decaying organic matter such as food waste, carrion, or feces. These soon hatch into legless white larvae, known as maggots. After two to five days of development, these metamorphose into reddish-brown pupae, about 8 millimetres (3⁄8 inch) long. Adult flies normally live for two to four weeks, but can hibernate during the winter. The adults feed on a variety of liquid or semi-liquid substances, as well as solid materials which have been softened by their saliva. They can carry pathogens on their bodies and in their feces, contaminate food, and contribute to the transfer of food-borne illnesses, while, in numbers, they can be physically annoying. For these reasons, they are considered pests.
Houseflies, with short life cycles and the ease with which they can be maintained, have been found useful for laboratory research into aging and sex determination. Houseflies appear in literature from Ancient Greek myth and Aesop's "The Impertinent Insect" onwards. Authors sometimes choose the housefly to speak of the brevity of life, as in William Blake's 1794 poem "The Fly", which deals with mortality subject to uncontrollable circumstances.
From the Wikipedia article “Housefly” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Housefly&oldid=1382295208), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
What does the housefly sound like?
Is the housefly 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 housefly classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumArthropoda
- classInsecta
- orderDiptera
- familyMuscidae
- genusMusca
- SpeciesMusca domestica Linnaeus, 1758
Synonyms Ascaris conosoma, Degeeria dawsoni, Degeeria obscura, Musca analis, Musca antiquissima, Musca atrifrons, Musca aurifacies, Musca aurulans, Musca australis, Musca basilaris, Musca campicola, Musca chilensis, Musca consanguinea, Musca contigua, Musca cuthbertsoni, Musca determinata, Musca divaricata, Musca domestica var. divisa, Musca domestica var. tiberina, Musca flavinervis, Musca frontalis, Musca frontalis, Musca fulvescens, Musca gymnosomea, Musca harpyia, Musca harpyia, Musca harpyia, Musca hottentota, Musca lateralis, Musca minor, Musca minor antiquissima, Musca multispina, Musca nancauriensis, Musca nebulo, Musca oceanica, Musca pellucens, Musca rivularis, Musca rufifrons, Musca rufiventris, Musca sanctaehelenae, Musca senegalensis, Musca sordidissima, Musca soror, Musca stomoxidea, Musca taitensis, Musca umbraculata, Musca vaccina, Musca vagatoria, Musca vicaria, Musca vicina, Sphora australis, Sphora oceanica nigricans
Other names and names in other languages (65)
- Common house flyEnglish
- House flyEnglish
- House flyEnglish
- House-flyEnglish
- Indoor house flyEnglish
- WansenaAkan
- የቤት ዝንብAmharic
- ذباب المنازلArabic
- ذبابة المنزلArabic
- ذبابة منزليةArabic
- MoscaAragonese
- Муха пакаёваяBelarusian
- Домашна мухаBulgarian
- liliubnn
- Mosca comunaCatalan
- Mosca DomèsticaCatalan
- ᏛᎧCherokee
- moucha domácíCzech
- StueflueDanish
- StubenfliegeGerman
- Gemeine StubenfliegeGerman
- Οικιακή μύγαGreek
- Mosca domésticaSpanish
- TagbatsutsuEwe
- huonekärpänenFinnish
- mouche domestiqueFrench
- માખીGujarati
- NaloHawaiian
- זבוב הביתHebrew
- Kućna muhaCroatian
- HázilégyHungarian
- ᑎᒻᒥᕗᖅ/timmivuqInuktitut
- HúsflugaIcelandic
- Mosca comuneItalian
- Mosca domesticaItalian
- イエバエ (家蠅)Japanese
- イエバエJapanese
- CuncungTyap
- Үй шыбыныKazakh
- 집파리Korean
- Kambarinė musėLithuanian
- Lalat rumahMalay
- stor husflueNorwegian Bokmål
- HuisvliegDutch
- KamervliegDutch
- stor husflugeNorwegian Nynorsk
- Mucha domowaPolish
- Mosca-de-casaPortuguese
- Mosca-domésticaPortuguese
- Musca de casăRomanian
- Комнатная мухаRussian
- čurutNorthern Sami
- čáhppesčurutNorthern Sami
- stohpučurutNorthern Sami
- stuoračurutNorthern Sami
- mucha domácaSlovak
- МуваSerbian
- flugaSwedish
- husflugaSwedish
- แมลงวันบ้านธรรมดาThai
- Ev SineğiTurkish
- KarasinekTurkish
- Муха хатняUkrainian
- 家蝇Chinese
- 家蠅Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistITISTAXREFWikidataWoRMS
Relatives of the housefly
Other species in the same genus Musca.
CompareHousefly vs Face flyHousefly vs Dog dung flyHousefly vs Osiris's flyHousefly vs Musca aestracea
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the housefly?
The housefly is an insect. It belongs to the order Diptera and the family Muscidae.
What is the scientific name of the housefly?
The scientific name of the housefly is Musca domestica. It is placed in the genus Musca.
Who named the housefly and when?
The housefly was named by Linnaeus, 1758.
What family does the housefly belong to?
The housefly belongs to the family Muscidae, in the subfamily Muscinae and the tribe Muscini.
What are other names for the housefly?
Other English names for the housefly are House fly, House-fly, Indoor house fly and Common house fly.
What class and phylum is the housefly in?
The housefly is in the class Insecta and the phylum Arthropoda, within the kingdom Animalia.
Is the housefly an invasive species?
In some places. The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species flags the housefly as invasive in 1 country: Canary Islands. It lists it as introduced in 6 in all.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-13. How this page is put together.
- Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (GRIIS) · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-11-13
Pagad, S., Genovesi, P., Carnevali, L., Schigel, D. & McGeoch, M.A. (2018) Introducing the Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species. Scientific Data 5: 170202. https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2017.202. Country checklists published through GBIF by the IUCN SSC Invasive Species Specialist Group. - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Housefly (Musca domestica). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/housefly
“Housefly (Musca domestica).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/housefly.
@misc{housefly_2026,
title = {Housefly (Musca domestica)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/housefly},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-13}
}