The literature on the life history and immature stages of Dohrniphora cornuta, a synanthropic, filth-inhabiting, humpbacked fly, is reviewed and summarized, and observations on laboratory rearings are presented. Adult females and larvae consume many kinds of dead and decaying animal and plant tissues, but apparently both are facultative predators of insects when other foods are not available. Adult males are apparently nectar feeders, and they are much shorter lived than females. Pest status, reproductive behavior, and life history parameters are compared with other phorid species, and the evolution of non-genitalic sexual structures is discussed.