# Black eyed fruit flies?



## bugmankeith (Oct 17, 2008)

I had an infestation of what appeared to be black-eyed fruit flies in my house. The garbage in my room had rotten apples and one day I see about 30 of these small flies come out of my garbage and the tiny maggots crawling inside, and some pupa attatched to the garbage bag sides, I have raised fruit fllies before and the larvae and pupae were identical to the wild fruit flies we have here. The next day I had 50+ of them and after a night of little buzzes by my ear I finally put the garbage outside but still had quite a bit in my room since they are so fast and hard to get.

They are slightly bigger than wild fruit flies (there abdomens were fatter in comparison) They are faster and run more than fly, but the slightest movement and they take off buzzing. They actually have smaller eyes than the wild fruit fly, and they are black, (not brown or mahogony like captive fruit fly variations) The males are smaller than females.

So right now the bag is outside with black and red fruit flies mating inside, I dont know if the 2 colors will interbreed?

Has anyone seen these? I live in New York and i'm sure there might be many species of fruit flies I dont know about but i've never seen these before. Getting a pic is near impossible outside.


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## Matt K (Oct 17, 2008)

...What you are seeing may actually be a species of *Phorid* flies from the sound of it...

Characteristics:
Phorid flies, also known as humpbacked flies or mushroom flies, are small  and resemble fruit flies in appearance.  The Phorid fly lacks the red eye color that is the classic trademark of the fruit fly.  Phorid flies are in the small category of flies, measuring up to 1/8 inch in length, including the wings. Color:  Tan brown with black eyes; small head; some common species have a severely arched (humpbacked) thorax when viewed from the side.

Behavior:
The most easily recognized feature (seen with the naked eye) is the habit of the adult Phorid fly running rapidly across surfaces instead of immediately flying when disturbed.   Most flies immediately take flight.  
Phorid flies are common in homes and commercial facilities where food is...

...and so on.

There are many species of Phorids across the USA.  Most interestingly one species that is being used to combat fire ants, as it is able to remove the ant head and lay an egg then on the body for the larvae to feed on.

Who knew?


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## bugmankeith (Oct 17, 2008)

Ok but are they common in NY (or long island)? We had someone visit from NC and there car was full of bagged food from the grocery store in NC  and lots of soda from mcdonalds. Could some have snuck in my house in the food/bags? I have had many fruit fly invasions, so why havent I ever seen these phorid flies before they had every opportunity to infest the garbage but never did?

I'll look up pictures to see if they look the same as what I saw. Ok looked at pics and out of 2 different pics 1 pic matched what I saw. They look like they have a black hairy stinger at the end of there abdomen, and after finding a dead one in my room under a microscope i'm pretty sure it's a Phorid fly. Trouble is NY is NOT listed as having them, only the warmer states, NC being one of them because they are living where fire ants are and I know fire ants are in NC.

I dont know if they will thrive here in colder climates, but in a dump it can be warm all year round so who knows?

Another thing to mention, do they bite? My family is getting a few red marks on there arms and there really arent any mosquitos around at this time of year. The flies are nearly all gone inside now though.


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## Matt K (Oct 17, 2008)

As far as I can Google, distribution occurs mostly where people are in temperate and tropical latitudes.  I had some on occasion in reptile cages a long time ago, and then went several years without seeing one.  This year I have had a bigger problem with them than I had ever anticipated.  Fortunately they are nearly gone now and I do not know what I did or did not do to cause it to happen/go away.


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## bugmankeith (Oct 17, 2008)

So then there is a good chance they hitchhiked from NC in the fruit bags right because like I said this is the first time i've ever seen these.


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