vijay vazirani
Insects - Flies
All insects are an integral part of our ecosystems. As part of food chains, insects provide sustenance (dinner) for countless other animals. For instance, just one crow can eat as many as 16 bushels of insects in one year. So--all insects are beneficial and necessary. It's just that with some insects--like flies--it's harder to remember that they are a necessary part of the world around us.
There are more than 100,000 different species of flies. They are found everywhere in the world--even in Antarctica. They belong to the order of insects called Diptera which means "two wings". Most insects have 4 wings. On the bodies of flies, however, over time, this second set of wings developed into small knobs called halteres that are located behind their main wings. These knobs help keep flies steady and balanced when they fly and make them very agile. They can maneuver themselves into intricate flight patterns, they can hover and spin, and they can even fly backwards.
Like all insects, flies have 6 legs and segmented bodies consisting of a head, a thorax and an abdomen.
Flies have hairy, sticky feet and are able to walk upside down. Their special feet enable them to land on smooth surfaces (like your wall) and not slide off.
Flies lay their eggs in soil, on plants, on the bodies of other animals, and frequently on dead or rotting flesh. Fly larvae are usually called maggots.
Different flies dine on different foods. Flies around the world eat nectar, plant sap, blood, other insects, and decaying matter. Did you know that a mosquito is actually a type of fly? Of the species of flies that eat blood, only the females are the blood eaters. They need the nutrients in blood to be able to lay eggs. The males of these species usually dine on nectar from plants and flowers. The species of flies that we call houseflies like to eat OUR food!
Flies cannot chew. They have to suck up their food. Flies have mouth parts that absorb food like a sponge. Their food has to be in a liquid form in order for them to eat it. They have a tongue shaped like a drinking straw to slurp up their meals. Flies that eat nectar or blood do so by using their tongue which is called a proboscis. Even flies that eat other insects do so by sucking out the insides of their victims. When a housefly lands on our food, it vomits on the food. The digestive juices, enzymes, and saliva in the vomit begin to break down and dissolve the food. The fly can then suck up the liquid food with its sponge-like mouth parts and its proboscis. If flies eat food from garbage cans or any other source of germy food, some of those germs stick to the fly's mouthparts and when the fly vomits on its next snack (your sandwich?), it transfers some of those germs.
Houseflies spread germs in other ways, too. The trouble is-- houseflies breed in and around manure piles (manure is the big, wet, warm droppings of cows, sheep, horses, and other large mammals), garbage, and rotting flesh. All of these places provide a good source of food for the maggots when they hatch. Flies have sticky pads on their feet, and every time a fly lands on something in our home and walks around on it, it leaves behind little bits of manure, garbage, or rotting flesh. When they walk on our food or our countertops, they leave behind germs from the last place they visited.
Housefly maggots can hatch within 24 hours if the place where the eggs were laid is warm and moist.
A fly has taste receptors on its feet so it can tell if something is good to eat as soon as it lands on it.
Flies can spread typhoid fever. During the Spanish-American War in 1898, typhoid was spread by flies and killed over 5,000 soldiers. The battles themselves in this war only killed 4,000 soldiers! Flies also spread malaria, yellow fever, sleeping sickness, and dysentery.
They do have their beneficial side. They help control other insect pests. They act as scavengers and recylers when they feed on decaying waste such as dung and dead animals. Of course, they serve as food themselves for other insects and many birds. Flies are also great pollinators. Only bees and some wasps pollinate more plants and flowers than flies.
Flies are a favorite snack for many spiders. So if you don't like flies in your house, encourage spiders to move in.
Insects - Flies
All insects are an integral part of our ecosystems. As part of food chains, insects provide sustenance (dinner) for countless other animals. For instance, just one crow can eat as many as 16 bushels of insects in one year. So--all insects are beneficial and necessary. It's just that with some insects--like flies--it's harder to remember that they are a necessary part of the world around us.
There are more than 100,000 different species of flies. They are found everywhere in the world--even in Antarctica. They belong to the order of insects called Diptera which means "two wings". Most insects have 4 wings. On the bodies of flies, however, over time, this second set of wings developed into small knobs called halteres that are located behind their main wings. These knobs help keep flies steady and balanced when they fly and make them very agile. They can maneuver themselves into intricate flight patterns, they can hover and spin, and they can even fly backwards.
Like all insects, flies have 6 legs and segmented bodies consisting of a head, a thorax and an abdomen.
Flies have hairy, sticky feet and are able to walk upside down. Their special feet enable them to land on smooth surfaces (like your wall) and not slide off.
Flies lay their eggs in soil, on plants, on the bodies of other animals, and frequently on dead or rotting flesh. Fly larvae are usually called maggots.
Different flies dine on different foods. Flies around the world eat nectar, plant sap, blood, other insects, and decaying matter. Did you know that a mosquito is actually a type of fly? Of the species of flies that eat blood, only the females are the blood eaters. They need the nutrients in blood to be able to lay eggs. The males of these species usually dine on nectar from plants and flowers. The species of flies that we call houseflies like to eat OUR food!
Flies cannot chew. They have to suck up their food. Flies have mouth parts that absorb food like a sponge. Their food has to be in a liquid form in order for them to eat it. They have a tongue shaped like a drinking straw to slurp up their meals. Flies that eat nectar or blood do so by using their tongue which is called a proboscis. Even flies that eat other insects do so by sucking out the insides of their victims. When a housefly lands on our food, it vomits on the food. The digestive juices, enzymes, and saliva in the vomit begin to break down and dissolve the food. The fly can then suck up the liquid food with its sponge-like mouth parts and its proboscis. If flies eat food from garbage cans or any other source of germy food, some of those germs stick to the fly's mouthparts and when the fly vomits on its next snack (your sandwich?), it transfers some of those germs.
Houseflies spread germs in other ways, too. The trouble is-- houseflies breed in and around manure piles (manure is the big, wet, warm droppings of cows, sheep, horses, and other large mammals), garbage, and rotting flesh. All of these places provide a good source of food for the maggots when they hatch. Flies have sticky pads on their feet, and every time a fly lands on something in our home and walks around on it, it leaves behind little bits of manure, garbage, or rotting flesh. When they walk on our food or our countertops, they leave behind germs from the last place they visited.
Housefly maggots can hatch within 24 hours if the place where the eggs were laid is warm and moist.
A fly has taste receptors on its feet so it can tell if something is good to eat as soon as it lands on it.
Flies can spread typhoid fever. During the Spanish-American War in 1898, typhoid was spread by flies and killed over 5,000 soldiers. The battles themselves in this war only killed 4,000 soldiers! Flies also spread malaria, yellow fever, sleeping sickness, and dysentery.
They do have their beneficial side. They help control other insect pests. They act as scavengers and recylers when they feed on decaying waste such as dung and dead animals. Of course, they serve as food themselves for other insects and many birds. Flies are also great pollinators. Only bees and some wasps pollinate more plants and flowers than flies.
Flies are a favorite snack for many spiders. So if you don't like flies in your house, encourage spiders to move in.