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Musca sorbens

Skin Fly

Multimedia & Additional Resources

Type	Description	Download
Image:	Two flies feeding	76KB
Image:	Fly	86KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Skin Fly

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: RANGE ? incl. Micronesia - Samoa - Tuamotu, Hawai‘i

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Introduced - Recent, Naturalised; Land, outside and in houses

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: ; Disease spreader, Nuisance

KEY FEATURES: Small, robust fly 4-5mmBL. THORAX grey with two black stripes from front fading near rear, joined to two outer stripes in the central section; with a black central strip appearing near rear and extending on rear segment of thorax.

SIMILAR SPECIES: See under Housefly (Musca domestica).

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

Southern Group: Present Makatea:
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN
P					P

Northern Group:
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW
			P

Key to Symbols

blank	no data
-	absent	L	localised
X	extinct 'naturally'	W	widespread
XQi	quarantine intercepted	R	recent
XQe	eradicated	?	query preceding category
P	present	T?	taxonomic query
S	seasonal	nn	present, said to have no name
O	occasional	?1	present, name not investigated
++++	very common	?2	presence not verified, no name recorded
+++	common	N/A	absent, name not expected
++	uncommon
+	rare
Cook Islands islands: RR =Rarotonga, MG = Mangaia, AT =‘Ātiu, MK=Ma‘uke, MT=Miti‘āro, AK=Aitutaki, PL=Palmerston, PN=Penrhyn, MN=Manuae, TK=Takūtea, TN=Tongareva (TS=Tongaleva Spoken, TW=Tongareva Written, they say "el" but write "r"), MH=Manihiki, RK=Rakahanga, PK=Pukapuka, NS=Nassau, SW=Suwarrow. After a Polynesian name: ^=orthography query. Countries and other: FIJ=Fiji, WT=Wallis & Futuna, SAM=Samoa, TON=Tonga, NIU=Niue, CK=Cook Islands, CKM=Cook Islands Māori, FP=French Polynesia, AUS=Australs, SOC=Societies, TAH=Tahiti, TUA=Tuamotus, MQS=Marquesas, MNG=Mangareva, PIT=Pitcain group, EAS=Easter Island, HAW=Hawai‘i, NZ=New Zealand, NZM=New Zealand Māori

Scientific Taxonomy

Musca sorbens Widemann, 1830
TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; ARTHROPODA; ATELOCERATA; HEXAPODA; INSECTA; PTERYGOTA; Diptera; MUSCIDAE

More Information

GENERAL NOTE: A notoriously pestiferous fly which is strongly attracted to the skin, especially open wounds, and perspiration of people.

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Rarotonga: 13 specimens, n houses, 1925 & 1929, G.P.Wilder, in BPBM with ID by J.R.Vockeroth 1967 as Musca sorbens. Aitutaki: 4 specimens, 1955, N.L.H.Krauss (3) & E.B.Pearson (1), in BPBM with ID by J.R.Vockeroth 1967 as Musca sorbens. Pukapuka: 3 specimens, 1924, E.H.Bryan Jr., in BPBM with ID by J.R.Vockeroth 1967 as Musca sorbens.

References:
None recorded.

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB04a, zM05a, zD04a

Web Resources

Citation Information

McCormack, Gerald (2007) Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga. Online at http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org.
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