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Clogmia sp (Moth Fly), Swan View WA © Jean and Fred Hort

Clogmia (Moth Fly)

DipteraDiptera Index Drone Flies and Hover Flies Flies Pollinators and Flies The Eyes of Flies Australian Sheep Blowfly (Lucilia cuprina) Australian Drain Fly Bat Flies Bee Flies Bee Flies Index Anthrax (Bee Fly) Australiphthiria Balaana Beefly Cryomyia sp Ligyra Neosardus cosmus Chrysomya saffranea Clogmia (Moth Fly) Eristalinus punctulatus Exorista, Fly Miltinus stenogaster Musca Odontomyia (Soldier Flies) Odontomyia Index Hermetia illucens (Black Soldier Fly) Physiphora alceae Physocephala australiana Robber Flies Sarcophaga aurifrons Soldier Fly Syrphidae Syrphids Common Halfband (Melangyna viridiceps) Yellow-shouldered Stout Hover Fly (Simosyrphus grandicornis) Therevidae

Clogmia sp, known commonly as Moth Fly or Drain Fly, is a non-hematophagous (does not feed on blood) insect of the Psychodidae family and have a worldwide distribution.

Clogmia sp (Moth Fly), Swan View WA © Jean and Fred Hort
Clogmia sp (Moth Fly), Swan View WA © Jean and Fred Hort

They can usually be seen near sewer drains, sewage treatment plants, swamps, and any other place containing decaying or moist organic matter. They are also found around plant pots (especially if they sit in saucers of water). As they thrive in stagnant and standing water, they are found in slow or clogged drains, refrigerator drain pans.

Clogmia sp (Moth Fly), Swan View WA © Jean and Fred Hort
Clogmia sp (Moth Fly), Swan View WA © Jean and Fred Hort
Clogmia sp (Moth Fly), Swan View WA © Jean and Fred Hort
Clogmia sp (Moth Fly), Swan View WA © Jean and Fred Hort
Clogmia sp (Moth Fly), Swan View WA © Jean and Fred Hort
Clogmia sp (Moth Fly), Swan View WA © Jean and Fred Hort
Clogmia sp (Moth Fly), Swan View WA © Jean and Fred Hort
Clogmia sp (Moth Fly), Swan View WA © Jean and Fred Hort

See Insects | Diptera | Diptera Index | Australian Drain Fly (Clogmia albipunctata)


  • Scientific classification
  • Kingdom: Animalia
  • Phylum: Arthropoda
  • Subphulum: Hexapoda
  • Class: Insecta
  • Informal: Pterygotes
  • Order: Diptera
  • Suborder: Nematocera
  • Infraorder: Psychodomorpha
  • Family: Psychodidae
  • Subfamily: Psychodinae
  • Tribe: Paramormiini
  • Genus: Clogmia
  • Species: Clogmia albipunctata

Footnote & References

  1. Clogmia sp (Moth Fly), Swan View WA © Jean and Fred Hort
  2. Clogmia Enderlein, 1937, Atlas of Living Australia, https://bie.ala.org.au/species/Clogmia
  3. Psychodidae, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychodidae (last visited Nov. 24, 2021).
  4. Drain fly – Psychoda spp. – Featured Creatures, Entomology and Nematology, University of Florida, https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/URBAN/FLIES/drain_fly.html

DipteraDiptera Index Drone Flies and Hover Flies Flies Pollinators and Flies The Eyes of Flies Australian Sheep Blowfly (Lucilia cuprina) Australian Drain Fly Bat Flies Bee Flies Bee Flies Index Anthrax (Bee Fly) Australiphthiria Balaana Beefly Cryomyia sp Ligyra Neosardus cosmus Chrysomya saffranea Clogmia (Moth Fly) Eristalinus punctulatus Exorista, Fly Miltinus stenogaster Musca Odontomyia (Soldier Flies) Odontomyia Index Hermetia illucens (Black Soldier Fly) Physiphora alceae Physocephala australiana Robber Flies Sarcophaga aurifrons Soldier Fly Syrphidae Syrphids Common Halfband (Melangyna viridiceps) Yellow-shouldered Stout Hover Fly (Simosyrphus grandicornis) Therevidae

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