Dung Fly

Dung flies are a group of flies in the family Scathophagidae found in temperate regions across the Northern Hemisphere, closely associated with the manure of grazing livestock. Adults are frequently seen resting on fresh dung pats in pastures and fields, where they gather not primarily to feed on the dung itself but to mate and hunt other insects that are also attracted to the manure.

Despite their close association with dung, adult dung flies are largely predatory, ambushing smaller flies and insects that visit the same dung pats, making them beneficial insects in the pasture ecosystem. Their larvae, in contrast, develop directly within the dung, feeding on the organic material and contributing to its breakdown.

The genus is well studied by biologists interested in insect behavior and reproduction, since large numbers of both sexes often congregate on the same fresh dung pats, creating conditions that have made dung flies a classic subject for research on animal mating systems.

• Robust, hairy body, often golden-yellow to olive-brown in color
• Long, bristly legs adapted for gripping onto dung and prey
• Rounded head with large reddish or dark compound eyes
• Wings are typically clear or lightly tinted, held flat or slightly spread at rest
• Frequently seen in numbers directly on fresh livestock dung in pastures

Dung flies are widespread across temperate grasslands and pastures in the Northern Hemisphere, wherever grazing livestock deposit dung. They are most commonly encountered directly on or near fresh manure, particularly in cattle and sheep pastures.

Adults are active from spring through fall in temperate climates, with populations closely tracking the availability of fresh dung deposits.

Adult dung flies are primarily predatory, perching on and around fresh dung to ambush smaller flies and other insects drawn to the same resource, in addition to occasionally feeding on nectar. Mating also takes place on or near fresh dung pats, where males often compete for access to females.

Larvae develop within the dung itself, feeding on the organic matter and microorganisms present, and in doing so contribute to the breakdown and recycling of manure in pasture ecosystems. Both adults and larvae are part of the broader insect community that helps process livestock waste in grasslands.

Females lay eggs directly into fresh dung shortly after it is deposited, since the pat must remain moist and soft for larvae to develop successfully. Eggs hatch within a day or two, and larvae feed within the dung, developing through three instars over roughly one to two weeks depending on temperature.

Mature larvae typically leave the dung to pupate in the surrounding soil, with adults emerging after a period of one to a few weeks. Multiple generations occur throughout the warmer months, and in temperate climates the species commonly overwinters as larvae or pupae in soil beneath older, dried dung deposits.