A beautiful fly that seems to be high on the legs due to the yellow, dense and short hair at the top of the legs. A fly that can be found on grasses and flowers and near cow droppings. A beautiful, special fly to see with the equally special name: the dung fly. The male dung flies can be found en masse during the mating season in the vicinity of cows, where the females then deposit the fertilized eggs in the cow droppings and from which the fly owes its name.
- The shit or dung fly (Scathophaga stercoraria)
- Appearance dung fly
- The legs
- The foot
- The antennas
- The wings
- The name dung fly
- The larvae
The shit or dung fly (Scathophaga stercoraria)
The diptera or diptera are an order of insects (Insecta) with a subdivision into flies (Brachycera) and mosquitoes (Nematocera). The dung fly is an insect belonging to the subdivision of flies and belongs to the subfamily of the dung flies (Scathophagidae). Of the different types of dung flies (Scathophagidae) that occur in the Netherlands and Belgium, Scathophaga stercoraria is the only one with a Dutch name, namely ‘dung fly’ or ‘dung fly’.
Dung fly (Scathophaga stercoraria)Subfamily
The 28 species of flies (Brachycera) also include the:
- blowflies (Calliphoridae);
- dance flies (Empididae);
- horse flies (Tabanidae);
- true flies (Muscidae);
- fruit flies (Drosophilidae);
- predatory flies (Asilidae);
- parasitic flies (Tachinidae);
- meat flies;
- gliding.
Appearance
The dung fly is common throughout Europe, North America and Asia. The dung fly can be seen from April to October. The dung fly does not like heat and is therefore not found in the warm countries of southern Europe (except in the mountains). On hot days in summer, the dung fly also hides in the apparition areas. It can be seen in full again during cooler days.
Appearance dung fly
The dung fly is five to ten millimeters long. The adult flies often visit flowers to suck nectar, but also suck out other insects with their short, pointed suction snouts. The female is smaller than the male and both dung flies have small red eyes like half marbles. The eyes are made up of thousands of compound hexagonal tiny particles (facets) and each facet has a lens. The male has yellow hair on the top of the legs (the shin) and the female dung fly does not. Precisely because of the yellow hair at the legs, this dung fly is also called yellow dung fly. The female is greenish-gray in color. The dung fly lives two to three months as an adult.
The legs
The legs of the male and female have long, spiky and dark hairs (spurs). The legs consist of the following segments from the body downwards:
- hip (Costa);
- thigh (femur);
- shin (tibia);
- foot (tarsus).
The foot
The last piece of the leg is the foot. The base consists of five tars members and the last tars lid consists of two small suction cups and resembles a kind of claw. This allows the dung fly, possibly upside down, to attach itself to smooth surfaces. There is a scraper on the two front legs as a cleaning device for cleaning the antennas.
The antennas
The antennae or feelers are located between the red eyes and consist of thirteen members in male dung flies and twelve members in the female. The antennae contain the smell and touch senses and are straight forward. The dung fly has black antennae, which distinguish it from most other types of dung flies. Some other types of dung flies that have black antennae are hardly found in the Netherlands and Belgium.
The wings
The dung fly is a two-winged (Diptera) insect with four wings. But the second pair of wings has almost disappeared with the shit flies, as with many flies. The rear wings are turned into small club-shaped organs (barbells) behind the wings. They have a function of keeping balance during flight. The transparent wings have visible veins and at rest the dung fly appears to have only one wing.
The name dung fly
Beautifully hairy male dung flies can be found en masse later in the spring near fresh cow droppings or the excrement of other animals. They are waiting for a female dung fly to mate with. A female with her unfertilized eggs will always prefer to fly to fresh cow droppings or other animal dung when she wants to mate. The female is claimed there by a male (monopolizing) who takes her to a quiet place near the cow dung and fertilizes it. After fertilization, the female lays about 150 elongated, dirty red and one millimeter ?? eggs, in the cow poo. And this is why the fly is called ‘shit fly’.
The larvae
The eggs undergo a complete transformation of egg, larva, pupa and image (dung fly), whereby the different phases from egg to adult animal do not resemble the parents of the dung fly. The larvae of the dung fly, approximately one millimeter long, develop in the manure. The larvae are also called leatherjackets. In order not to sink into the faeces (especially from cows), the eggs have two wings ?? making them look like tiny white flies. The larvae do not eat the manure but hunt for the larvae of other flies that do live on the manure. They pupate under or next to the dung in the soil and hatch after three days as a dung fly and live for about two to three months.
