Galapagos Species Database

The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.

Musca domestica Linnaeus, 1758

mosca domestica, house fly

Common around buildings of the dry zone.

Taxonomy

Domain
Eukaryota

Kingdom
Animalia

Phylum
Arthropoda

Class
Insecta

Order
Diptera

Suborder
Brachycera

Family
Muscidae

Genus
Musca

Species
domestica

Taxon category: Accepted

Origin: Introduced - established

Introduction

Year of first record: 1925

Mode of introduction: Accidental

Introduction Pathway: Contaminant

Subpathway: On habitat material (soil, vegetation)

Introduced status: Human dependent

Invasive status: Unlikely to become invasive

Distribution

Map of specimen collection localities or observation records for this species in our collections database.

Distribution: Cosmopolitan; Baltra, Floreana, Isabela, San Cristóbal, Santa Cruz.

References

  • Curran, C.H. (1932) The Norwegian Zoological Expedition to the Galapagos Islands 1925, Conducted by Alf Wollebæk. 4. Diptera. (Excl. of Tipulidae and Culicidae). Medd. Zool. Mus., Oslo 30: 347-366.
  • Curran, C.H. (1934) The Templeton Crocker Expedition of the California Academy of Sciences, 1932. No. 13 Diptera. Calif. Acad. Sc., Fourth Series 21(13): 147-172.
  • Linsley, E.G. Usinger, R.L. (1966) Insects of the Galápagos Islands. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences Fourth Series 33(7): 113-196.
  • Peck, S.B. (1996) Origin and development of an insect fauna on a remote archipelago: The Galápagos Islands, Ecuador. In: Keast A., Miller S.E. (eds.): The origin and evolution of Pacific Island biotas, New Guinea to eastern Polynesia: patterns and processes. SPB Academic Publishing, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, p. 91-122.
  • Peck, S.B. Heraty, J., Landry, B. & Sinclair, B.J. (1998) Introduced insect fauna of an oceanic archipelago: The Galápagos Islands, Ecuador. Am. Entomol. 44: 218-237.
  • Sinclair, B. J. (2023) An annotated checklist of the Diptera of the Galápagos Archipelago (Ecuador). Zootaxa, 5283, 1-102
  • Sinclair, B.J. Peck, S.B. (2005) An annotated checklist of the Diptera of the Galápagos Archipelago (Ecuador). Charles Darwin Research Station, unpublished, 64 pp.

You are welcome to download and use the information found in this page, acknowledging its source.

This page should be cited as follows:

"Galapagos Species Database, Musca domestica", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=6651. Accessed 15 December 2025.