Stable fly
- Pronunciation
- /STAY-buhl FLY/
- Category
- Entomology
- Singular
- stable fly
- Plural
- stable flies
Definition
A blood-feeding muscid fly, Stomoxys calcitrans, that superficially resembles the common house fly but possesses a rigid, bayonet-like for piercing skin. Unlike most , both sexes feed on mammalian blood and are significant pests of livestock, companion animals, and occasionally humans. The is now , though probably of Palearctic or Afrotropical origin.
Etymology
From 'stable' referring to its association with livestock housing and animal husbandry settings.
Example
On dairy farms, stable flies cluster on the lower legs of cattle, causing defensive stomping that reduces feed conversion and milk production; thresholds of 5 flies per leg are considered economically injurious.
Synonyms
- Stomoxys calcitrans
- barn fly
- biting house fly
- dog fly
Related Terms
- house fly
- horn fly
- tsetse fly
- myiasis
- mechanical vector
- Integrated Pest Management
- livestock entomology
Usage Notes
Often misidentified as a biting house fly by lay observers; distinguished from by the forward-projecting, rigid visible in profile and by blood-feeding . The related false stable fly, Muscina stabulans, is similar in appearance but does not blood-feed. In veterinary contexts, stable fly bites are associated with secondary and reduced weight gain in feedlot cattle.