Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada

Species Brontaea humilis

fly - Brontaea humilis - male fly - Brontaea humilis - male
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Diptera (Flies)
No Taxon (Calyptratae)
Superfamily Muscoidea
Family Muscidae (House Flies and kin)
Subfamily Mydaeinae
Genus Brontaea
Species humilis (Brontaea humilis)
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Brontaea humilis (Zetterstedt, 1860)
Size
3 to 4.5 mm (1)
Identification
Males wholly dark, while females have a pattern of grey dusting. (1)
Range
Palaearctic, introduced into North America. (1)

In our area, known from Michigan, Quebec, Ontario, North Carolina, and British Columbia. (1)
Habitat
Adults attracted to horse dung (where larvae breed), as well as to honeydew and lights. (1)
Season
Overwinters as adults, very often entering buildings, often in great numbers. (1)
Food
Larvae breed in horse dung. (1)
Works Cited
1.A revision of New World Brontaea Kowarz (Diptera, Muscidae)
Claudio J. B. de Carvalho and Adrian C. Pont. 1997. Revista Brasileira de Zoologia 14 (3): 723 -749.