Cheese fly

This article is about the fly species. For the family, see Piophilidae.

Cheese fly
Piophila casei
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Diptera
Family:	Piophilidae
Genus:	Piophila
Species:	P. casei
Binomial name
Piophila casei (Linnaeus, 1758)

The cheese fly (Piophila casei) is a species of fly from the family Piophilidae whose larvae are known to infest cured meats, smoked or salted fish, cheeses and also carrion. The larvae of this fly are known as cheese skippers or ham skippers due to their ability to launch themselves several inches into the air when alarmed or disturbed. On the Mediterranean island of Sardinia, the larvae are intentionally introduced into pecorino cheese to produce the characteristic casu marzu. When consumed, the larvae can survive in the intestine causing enteric myiasis.

Description

Adult male Cheese Flies are usually 4.4 to 4.5mm long with females slightly larger at 5.0 to 5.2mm long. The body is primarily a metallic black bronze in colour with pale yellow iridescent wings that lie flat upon the fly's abdomen when at rest. The head has short antennae and compound eyes that are red in colour. The legs can be yellow brown and are covered in short spines.

The Cheese Fly larvae are cylindrical and can appear white or yellowish white with black mouthparts. When fully grown they are 9-10mm long and 1mm wide and the body has 13 segments. When disturbed the larva can leap 4 to five inches by hooking their mouth hooks into a nearby surface and jerking forward. It is this behavior that has led to the name "cheese skippers".

External links

• Image of Piophila casei Los Angeles County Natural History Museum