Photo © iStockphoto/Arlindo Silva

• Adult is 1/8 to 1/4 inch long (4-8 mm)
• One pair of translucent wings
• Four stripes on thorax
• Elbowed wing vein
• Larvae (maggots) are cylindrical, worm-like and grow to be 3/8 inch long (12 mm)

• Body dull gray
• Black stripes on top of thorax
• Sides of abdomen pale
• Eyes dark red-brown
• Larvae (maggots) are yellowish-white, smooth and shiny

Flesh flies (Sarcophagidae)

• Both larva (maggot) and adult feed on all kinds of moist and decaying animal or plant material
• Found in human and animal feces, in decaying fruits & vegetables, grass clippings, garbage cans, dumpsters, trash chutes, compost, sludge
• Breeding site is usually within 100 yards of infested area, but flies commonly travel one mile from breeding site

• Can develop from egg to adult fly in as little as 8 days
• Regurgitates and defecates on resting surfaces
• Serious pest in poultry houses, livestock barns, meat-packing operations, around kennels, food processing plants
• Does not bite, but contaminates food and is mechanical vector of many diseases such as salmonella, typhoid fever, dysentery, and yaws

Photo by Jim Kalisch, Department of Entomology,
University of Nebraska-Lincoln