Appearance
These small flies are about 1/64 – 1/4 inch in length. When viewed from the side, they appear humpbacked. The color ranges from black, brown to yellowish.
Habitat
These flies are frequently found around flowers and moist decaying matter, although they can be found throughout the house. Several species have the common name of the coffin fly, because they breed in human corpses. The larvae breed in a numerous variety of locations, such as dung, fungi, decaying plant matter, drain pipes, etc…
Diet
Most commonly they feed on decaying organic matter.
Reproduction
The female lays between 1 to 100 eggs in or on the larval food. She can lay up to 749 eggs in her lifetime. The time it takes from egg to adult vary on the species, but the average is about 25 days.