Housefly
The proper name of a species is generally given as the genus and the species together, with the genus capitalized, such as Salticus scenicus or Apis mellifera. The insect pictured here is a fly, probably in genus Musca. You know how “Api” is the word for “a bee” but also means “pointy”? Well, this is interesting: Musca is the Latin word for “a fly”, but it also means “pesky” or “bothersome”.
This might be Musca domestica (literally: “Housefly”) but I’m not too sure. The wings are not darkly veined and the eyes are brown rather than red. I don’t know if that makes it a different species or just a different strain.
One thing I like about this picture is only evident in the larger photo: I actually got a whole line of flies in the photo. This is the only one that was in focus, however, so I cropped the image down. If you want to see blurry flies, I left the larger version uncropped.
David Brady said,
May 4, 2008 @ 1:22 pm
Sorry for the late post. I wrote this on Friday but miscounted and got the posting date wrong.
Kazriko said,
May 5, 2008 @ 1:16 am
I bet it became pesky/bothersome in much the same way the word Bug became both crawly critter and annoy.
Insect Picture of the Day » Blowfly said,
July 9, 2008 @ 7:00 am
[…] the heck. Let’s take a stab here, for me the thought process is half the fun¹. It could be Musca domestica (common housefly) but I’m really not sure. I think M. domestica has a dull carapace, and not […]