• 12 parts
  • Checked September 2026

Label the Parts of a Fly

A house fly from above, its head and a foot close up: twelve numbers to name.

Label the Parts of a Fly

Name Date

Numbered worksheet

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
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Write the name of each numbered part.Answer key

  1. Head
  2. Compound eyes
  3. Thorax
  4. Abdomen
  5. Wings
  6. Legs
  7. Halteres
  8. Antenna
  9. Arista
  10. Proboscis
  11. Claws
  12. Foot pads (pulvilli)

Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry. Licence: own work.

Each numbered ring is a button. Use the arrow keys to move between them and Enter to choose. Names are read out in Study, and once a part is answered.

Next step Read every name on the labeled fly

All 12 parts on the diagram

Show the list

The fly 7

  1. Head The front section. It carries the eyes, antennae and mouth.
  2. Compound eyes Two large eyes at the sides of the head.
  3. Thorax The middle section. It carries the wings and the six legs.
  4. Abdomen The rear section of the body, in segments.
  5. Wings One pair only. Most other insects have two pairs.
  6. Legs Six legs. Each ends in two claws and two pads.
  7. Halteres Knobbed stubs in place of hind wings. They keep the fly steady.

Head and foot 5

  1. Antenna One of a short pair. The arista grows from it.
  2. Arista A bristle on the last segment of each antenna.
  3. Proboscis A fleshy tube that sponges up liquid food.
  4. Claws A pair of claws on the end of each leg.
  5. Foot pads (pulvilli) Two sticky pads that let a fly walk up walls.

How this list was compiled: Every name checked on 2026-09-30, a name kept only where two of these use it: (1) North Carolina State University, ENT 425 General Entomology, Diptera, https://genent.cals.ncsu.edu/insect-identification/order-diptera/ (one pair of wings, the hind wings reduced to halteres, aristate antennae, a proboscis adapted for sponging, the enlarged middle of the thorax), with its page on insect legs, https://genent.cals.ncsu.edu/bug-bytes/thorax/legs/ (claws; pulvilli, a pair of adhesive pads); (2) Wikipedia, Housefly, Fly and Halteres, text only, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Housefly and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fly (the head, a pair of short antennae, the six legs, compound eyes, thorax, abdomen, the single pair of wings, halteres, the proboscis and its spongy tip, claws and the adhesive pads called pulvilli); (3) J. H. Comstock, A Manual for the Study of Insects, the chapter on Diptera, https://archive.org/details/rnanualforstudyof00coms_0 (two wings on the mesothorax, the knobbed halteres, the arista on the antenna, tarsal claws and pulvilli). Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry; no photograph or plate followed. Licence: own work

How it works

To label the parts of a fly, write a name on the line for each number. Numbers 1 to 7 are on a house fly from above. Numbers 8 to 12 are on its head and one foot, drawn large.

Read the full guide

Fly worksheet word bank

Twelve names, in alphabetical order: abdomen, antenna, arista, claws, compound eyes, foot pads (pulvilli), halteres, head, legs, proboscis, thorax, wings. Lines 1 and 2 end close together: 2 on one of the two large domes, 1 on the strip of head between them. Lines 8 and 9 are another pair: 8 is the short stub on the face, 9 the feathery bristle that grows from it.

Label the fly parts: seven names first

The seven parts of the whole fly are a shorter sheet, numbered 1 to 7, with no number on the large head or the foot: head, compound eyes, thorax, abdomen, wings, legs and halteres. The five on the close-up are harder: antenna, arista, proboscis, claws and foot pads.

  • When marking, eyes is right on line 2, balancers on line 7 and feelers on line 8.
  • Mouth or tongue is right on line 10, hooks on line 11, and pads or sticky pads on line 12.
  • For coloring in: a house fly is gray to black, with four dark stripes along the thorax and red eyes.

Questions and answers

Is a fly an insect?

Yes. Flies are the insect order Diptera, the true flies. The name is built from the Greek di, two, and ptera, wings: a true fly has a single pair of wings.

How many eyes does a house fly have?

Five. Two are the large compound eyes at number 2. The other three are simple eyes, called ocelli, which are too small to number on this drawing.

How do you tell a male house fly from a female?

By the eyes. A male's two compound eyes almost touch. A female's are set farther apart, and she is slightly larger. The fly on this sheet has its eyes apart, like a female.

What are the stages of a fly's life?

Egg, larva, pupa and adult. A house fly's larva is a legless white maggot. It turns into a reddish-brown pupa, and the adult fly comes out of the pupa. The sheet shows the adult.

Does the fly worksheet have an answer key?

Yes. The key prints both drawings with their numbers and lists the twelve names in order, head first and foot pads last.

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