Mesembrina meridiana

Mesembrina meridiana
Mesembrina meridiana female
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Diptera
Family: Muscidae
Genus: Mesembrina
Species: M. meridiana
Binomial name
Mesembrina meridiana
(Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms
  • Musca meridiana Linnaeus, 1758

Mesembrina meridiana is a species of fly, sometimes known as the noon fly. It is widespread and common between late April and late October, particularly in cattle-rearing areas. It is a large black fly with orange colouration on the base of its wings, on the feet and the face. Adults are most often seen on cow dung, basking in open ground or visiting flowers to feed upon nectar. Eggs are laid in cow dung, the larvae are carnivorous, and feed on other fly larvae within the dung. The female lays up to five eggs in a lifetime, each one in a different pat, at two day intervals <Skidmore, P.: Insects of the British Cow Dung Community>.