Musca lies in a region in the southern sky mapped by Dutch explorer Frederick de Houtman and navigator Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser in 1595-97, that was formed into twelve constellations by Dutch astronomer Petrus Plancius, and introduced to the world at large by Johann Bayer in his 1603 Uranometria. Plancius actually called this constellation Apis, The Bee, as there was already a Musca in the northern sky near Aries, but in 1752 Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille renamed it Musca Australis, or the Southern Fly. The original Musca having been long discarded from the list of official constellations, Australis has been removed from Musca Australis, as with only one fly in the heavens there is no need to distinguish between them.

 Stars that have common names often have multiple names, so the common names shown (if any) cannot be considered authoritative. Right ascension and declination are given in 2000.0 coordinates.

α Mus

β Mus

γ Mus

δ Mus

ε Mus