[All pictures of garden wildlife on this page are thumbnails. Click on any thumbnail for a large format to be displayed.]

Common Flesh Fly or Grey Flesh Fly (Sarcophaga carnaria)

Within the Flesh-fly family (Sarcophagidae) there are a few species that resemble one another very much. They can only be told apart after microscopic investigations. For many reasons but especially because it would involve killing the animal, I don't go that far. Therefore, please, take into account that it is uncertain that the depicted flies in this page actually are Sarcophaga carnaria.

It turns out that, contrary to what the name of this fly in both English and Latin suggest, the Common Flesh Fly does NOT eat flesh itself. Its larvae just eat other larvae that live in decaying flesh.