Yellow Dung Fly
Invertebrate
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A bristly, golden-yellow fly that is a familiar sight around livestock pastures, where it hunts for smaller insects and breeds in animal droppings.
💡 Fun Facts
- They are easily recognised by their bright yellow, hairy bodies.
- While the adults hunt other flies, they lay their eggs in animal dung, which provides the perfect food for their growing larvae.
- They are one of the most common insects seen around cowpats in the British countryside.
Name Story
Scathophaga stercoraria
means “the dung-eater of the dung — doubly dungy!”
What does its name mean?
- Scathophaga — dung-eaterGreek skatos 'dung' + phagein 'to eat'
- stercoraria — of the dungLatin stercus 'dung'
Both halves of its scientific name mean 'dung' — so the whole thing says it twice! The fuzzy golden males gather on fresh cow-pats to find mates, and that is where they lay their eggs.