What Is This Fly?
Location: Toronto, Canada
May 18, 2011 8:14 pm
I work in a medical office on the second floor and we have large windows. There are a few houseplants at the window. I noticed these small flies every day. They keep coming from somewhere, but our windows don’t open so they may live inside the building. They are very sluggish, I can pick them up with my fingers or hands. They don’t fly away like normal flies. I find many of them sitting by the window, usually dead and drying up. I can’t seem to figure out what they are, and where they are coming from. Can you please help?
Signature: Eddie
Bathroom Fly
Hi Eddie,
This is an amazingly detailed image of a Bathroom Fly. Bathroom Flies breed in the sludge that accumulates in drain pipes. They are also called Drain Flies or Moth Flies.
¶ Posted 20 May 2011 § ‡ ° Identification
Location: west coast Tampa Florida
January 21, 2011 8:52 pm
Hi
I find these in my bathroom only. The bathroom has a exhaust fan in the ceiling and a drain in the shower. The size is between an eighth and three sixteeths of an inch.
Richard
Signature: Thanks in advance
Bathroom Fly
Hi Richard,
Interestingly, you had all of your answers built into your submission. This is a Bathroom Fly in the Moth Fly (how you labeled your photo) family Psychodidae. They breed in the sludge that forms in pipes and the adults can become quite plentiful in rooms with plumbing that needs to be cleaned out.
What the heck might this be
Location: Queensland. Au
September 18, 2010 12:11 am
Hi guys,
Thanks for the info on the lacewing nymph. Now to this one. It is only about 3mm body length, has antennae and legs like a moth but appears to only have two wings like a fly. Do you have any idea on what type of thing it may be?
The book is looking good, hope it sells really well.
Signature: aussietrev
Bathroom Fly
Hi Trevor,
This is a Bathroom Fly or Drain Fly, probably in the genus Clogmia in the Moth Fly family Psychodinae. According to BugGuide: “Adults often found around sewage installations, in public washrooms, and bathrooms in homes, and are attracted to light; larvae live in organic sludge that forms on inner surfaces of drains and sewage pipes; pupae occur on the surface of the organic film that the larvae have been living in.“
bug found in the mens washroom at work
July 13, 2010
Hello – a very silly request so I apologize in advance – but there’s a fly in one of our washrooms here at work that i’ve never seen before. Googling does not get me the results I hope for.
Bored at work
Toronto, Canada – 6th floor
Bathroom Fly
Dear Bored at work,
We wondered if perhaps the problem you had identifying this Bathroom Fly (yes that is its name) had anything to do with the semantics of the word “washroom” as opposed to bathroom, so we did a search of “fly” and “washroom”. On the first page of possibilities was a website with an image of your creature. Bathroom Flies in the subfamily Psychodinae are also known as Moth Flies, Drain Flies, Sewage Flies or Filth Flies according to BugGuide.
¶ Posted 13 July 2010 § ‡ ° Caterpillar like larvae
March 9, 2010
Recently we submitted a photo which was identified as a moth fly. Thank you for the prompt reply!
The same customer has submitted another photo which looks like some type of larvae. (perhaps the moth fly?)
Cathy’s Crawly Composters
Worm Bin
Moth Fly Larvae
Hi again Cathy,
Based on images we found on the Integrated Pest Management Resources website and on BugGuide, we believe these larvae are immature Moth Flies.
¶ Posted 09 March 2010 § Maggots ‡ ° Big Winged Fly in Worm Bin
March 4, 2010
One of our customers has sent the attached photos of their worm bin.
The conditions in the worm bin are very wet, (muck like). These tiny, big winged flies are very numerous covering the surface of the worm bin. Red wigger worms are numerous also and seem not to be affected by the winged creatures. They look like alien flies. Please let us know what we have here.
Cathy’s Crawly Composters
Worm Bin
Moth Flies
Hi Cathy,
These are Moth Flies in the family in the subfamily Psychodinae. There is an excellent close up photograph on BugGuide. Certain species breed in drains indoors, and they are commonly called Bathroom Flies or Drain Flies.
¶ Posted 04 March 2010 § ‡ ° small moth
February 27, 2010
i could not find anything on this bug, so i hope you could tell me what it is! it is a moth that i found on one of my walls inside, it is the second one i have seen this month- have not seen before! it is small, about half a centimetre long.
shayni
New Zealand, North island.
Bathroom Fly
Hi shayni,
THough it resembles a moth, this Bathroom Fly is really a fly in the subfamily Psychodinae, the Moth Flies. There are genera in the subfamily that look alike, and BugGuide pictures many species found in North America. Bathroom Flies or Filter Flies as they are also called are often found indoors in damp bathrooms because they breed in the muck that accumulates in plumbing.
worm/nemaotode/larvae?
December 22, 2009
We’ve started seeing a number of these critters in our bathtub. They are 3-5 mm in length and are extremely fragile. I did this guy in trying to get him under the scope, so I don’t have a better pic. It has been a very wet fall here in northeast GA and I suspect the water is driving them to higher ground. They are driving the wife nuts and need to find out what they are and how to get rid of them.
Thanks!
Jim
30 miles NE of Atlanta, GA
Bathroom Fly Larva
Dear Jim,
We believe this is the larva of a Bathroom Fly or Drain Fly which is pictured on BugGuide. They are also called Moth Flies and are in the subfamily Psychodinae. The tiny mothlike adults are frequently found in bathrooms, and the larvae live in the drains.
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