This constellation was found in the southern skies, just below the constellation of Crux, the southern cross. It first appeared as Apis in the star atlases of Johann Bayer in 1603. In 1752 the French astronomer Nicolas Louis de La Caille rename the constellation as Musca Australis, the southern fly. The name has since been shortened to simply Musca, the fly. The constellation is not visible to most observers in the United States. Another obsolete constellation, Musca Borealis, the northern fly, has also been known as Apis, the bee. Musca Borealis can be found immediately above Aries, the ram.