Common Flesh Flies

Common flesh flies (Sarcophagidae) are common around the world and many can be found near the Dimond Canyon hiking trail marker. These flies are grayish and have horizontal black stripes along their bodies with red compound eyes. As per their name, the larvae of flesh flies eat decaying meat or smaller organisms living on dead animals, rvidiong an enormously important ecosystem service of helping to breakdown dead and rotting organic mateirals, making these nuttrients more widely available. Some flesh flies have the capacity to be vectors for pathogens and bacteria. They are also known to be parasitoids for catepillars.