Types Of Flies In Florida: The 7 Species You Will Likely Encounter

You may have come across these flies but did not even know their names, or what they looked like. From the information above, you should be able to differentiate these flies if you come across them again.

Let’s go!

 

Different Types Of Flies In Florida

1. Housefly:

The housefly is definitely number 1 when looking at the different types of flies in Florida. These flies can be found almost all over the world, from the Middle East, where they originated.

Below are possible ways to identify these types of flies in Florida:

• As adults, they usually have grey-to-black body colorations.
• The housefly has 4 dark longitudinal lines on its thorax.
• They have membranous wings that span about 13 to 15 mm in length.
• This Florida fly is slightly hairy.
• Their eyes are red.
• They usually measure lengths of 6 to 7 mm.
• Females have larger wings than males.
• Males are more long-legged than females.
• Males often have similar sizes, unlike females, whose sizes vary.
• They have convex head fronts, with the back of their heads looking flat.
• Females have widely separated compound eyes, which also differentiates them from the males.
• They have a short pair of antennae.
• These flies have 3 simple eyes.

 

Read also: Flying Blue Insect: What Are These Flies I Am Seeing?

 

2. Blow Flies:

Do you know how the name blow flies came about? Well, it is definitely far from what you think. According to Wikipedia, the name blowfly comes from an older English term for meat that had eggs laid on it, which was said to be flyblown.

These types of flies in Florida belong to the family Calliphoridae, usually consisting of blow flies, bluebottle flies, greenbottle flies, carrion flies, etc.

They belong to the order Diptera and are often used as fishing bait. Ever heard of maggots being used as fishing bait? Yes, it may likely be the larvae (commonly referred to as gentles) of the blow fly.

Blow flies are one of the most common types of flies in Florida and can easily be identified by their metallic colorations and blue or green abdomen or thorax.

3. Cecidomyiidae:

Cecidomyiidae is the family name for gall midges or gall gnats. These are also types of flies in Florida and are known to consume plant tissues as larvae. Their feeding habits have been known to tamper with plant growth.

These types of flies in Florida, Cecidomyiidae, are very small and reach lengths of 2 to 3 mm. Size and even bodily features make these flies fragile.

Do you know that, as larvae, these pests are able to reproduce? It’s intriguing, isn’t it? What is more shocking is that the daughter larvae even consume their mother in some species.

Besides the weird features that these insects exhibit, below are some popular characteristics of Cecidomyiidae:

• They have hairy wings.
• They have long antennas.
• Besides the normal length mentioned above, most of them can be as small as 1 mm.

4. Tabanidae:

Ever heard of deer flies or horseflies? Yes, these flies belong to the family Tabanidae. As adults, these Florida flies are large and often swift in their flight.

In Florida, these flies are inactive during the night and will often be seen during the day, when the females bite and obtain blood from humans and other land vertebrates.

We mentioned that the females do the biting, and this is because they have strong mouthparts, unlike the males that have weak mouthparts.

Since males cannot obtain blood from vertebrates like their female counterparts, they proceed to feed on nectar and other carbon-rich materials in plants.

Below are common features of the Tabanidae that we have not mentioned:

• They have large compound eyes.
• The females have eyes that are widely apart, unlike the males.
• They have short antennae.
• They have wide bodies.

You should also note that some of these fly species have been preserved. You may therefore observe that the eye of a living Tabanidae is brightly colored, unlike those of preserved Tabanidae, which appear to be dull.

5. Psycodidae:

You must have probably heard of the following types of flies in Florida:

• Sink flies
• Sewer flies
• Drain flies
• Filter flies, etc.

All these names belong to the Psychodidae. Besides Florida, about 2600 species of this fly are found in the world, with most of them native to the humid tropics.

Below are possible bodily features of the Psychodidae:

• They have hairy bodies and wings.
• They have short wings.

You will often find these types of Florida flies in the following places:

• Sewage systems
• Plumbing drains
• Toilets
• Gutters, etc.

 

Read also: Lots of Flies In House Suddenly | Reason Behind This Mystery

 

6. Crane Fly:

Another popular type of fly in Florida is the Crane fly. Below are the bodily characteristics of these pests:

• They have slender bodies that resemble that of large male mosquitoes.
• Their legs are long and can easily come off. You must have experienced this one before!
• They have marked wings with wing interference patterns.

Crane flies often feed on nectar and water and are usually found in damp, temperate areas, including:

• Vegetation near streams
• Near lakes, etc.

7. Common Fruit Fly:

You will often find this Florida fly in the following places:

• Kitchens
• Pubs
• Orchards, etc

In the wild, they usually feed on rotting fruits and beverages, hence their name, common fruit fly.

Below are common ways to identify these types of flies in Florida:

• They have yellow-brown bodies.
• They have crosswise black rings across their abdomens.
• Do you know the color of a red brick? Yes, that is what their eyes look like.
• Females are larger than males and often reach lengths of 2.5 mm.
• The back of the male is slightly darker than the back of the female common fruit fly.

 

Read also: Where Do Flies Lay Eggs?

 

Conclusion

From the article above, you will see that the different types of flies in Florida all exhibit different behaviors and even have different appearances.

There are still a couple of flies in Florida, but we have selected the 7 most common species you will likely come across in Florida.

You must have experienced these flies before. So tell us in the comments section below: What was your experience with them like?

About The Author