Guardian Nature School Team Contact Blog Project Noah Facebook Project Noah Twitter

A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife

Join Project Noah!
nature school apple icon

Project Noah Nature School visit nature school

Housefly fungus

Entomophthora muscae

Description:

A white fuzzy fungus that feeds off the soft body parts of houseflies.

Habitat:

Rural back yard.

Notes:

From Wikipedia: Outbreaks of infection with Entomophthora muscae tend to occur in the spring and autumn. The fungus is found in most temperate regions and sporulation usually takes place in cool, humid conditions in areas where flies congregate and rest. In houses, the corpses of flies are frequently seen attached to windows or window frames, a place where other flies may easily become infected. In the open, they may be seen attached to the underneath of leaves, on fences and walls, in agricultural buildings and poultry house.

Species ID Suggestions



Sign in to suggest organism ID

5 Comments

drP
drP 10 years ago

Eeeewww. Great spotting!

Wow, I haven't seen this fungus. Cool spotting!

LisaPowers
LisaPowers 10 years ago

Thanks Leuba! It is not a way I would want to go!

LisaPowers
LisaPowers 10 years ago

The behavior of the fly totally changes when they get infected. The fly becomes lethargic and usually perches on the underside of a leaf. Eventually the fungus overcomes it and the fly dies in place. I have been seeing an increased amount of these for the past 2 years.

Leuba Ridgway
Leuba Ridgway 10 years ago

Sounds awful but a very interesting spotting, Lisa. Thanks !

LisaPowers
Spotted by
LisaPowers

Tennessee, USA

Spotted on Jun 18, 2013
Submitted on Jun 24, 2013

Related Spottings

Entomopathogenic fungus Fliegentöter Unnamed spotting Fly fungus

Nearby Spottings

Greater Red Dart Oak Leaf-folder Poison Ivy Dark-banded Geometer
Noah Guardians
Noah Sponsors
join Project Noah Team

Join the Project Noah Team