fly

I know what your thinking : Why on earth would you study flies?

Well, I’m glad you asked, flies have been known to help solve crimes and put bad people behind bars. By studying the decomposing body, forensic entomologist can tell when a person died. They observe the flies life cycle on the decomposing body.

We were surprised to learn that there are seven body farms in the United States. You can actually donate your body to one of these facilities. Here a decomposing body is studied in a variety of different environments.

Anatomy of Flies

Not every insect that has the name fly in it is actually a fly. A true fly has two wings and a halter which controls its flight center. A mosquito is a true fly while a dragonfly isn’t.

No one likes flies on their food and for very good reason : flies carry millions of different bacteria on their feet and they spread diseases.

It’s not that easy to take down a fly because they have tiny hairs on their exoskeleton and these bristles vibrate when air moves nearby. So when you try to swat a fly they feel the air and this warning helps them to get away before you get it. Flies are great flyers, they might be one of the best. This is because they are able to turn six times in a second and they perform somersaults.

The main organs are located in the abdomen. The thorax helps the fly move because their wings and legs are attached to the thorax.

Different Flies in the World

Where there are people, there are flies. Flies are found all over the world. The only place you will not find any flies is in Antarctica.

For this you’ll need a white party table cloth that you can purchase at the dollar store. Draw out all of the continents and on index cards draw different flies that are found in different parts of the world.

Fruit Flies

I don’t know about you but we love fruits and we have several fruit bowls on our kitchen counters. Sometimes we get fruit flies. Fruit flies love fruits, specifically ripe fruit that doesn’t have a hard rind. For example if you leave figs out on your counters you will get fruit flies.

Did you know that sixty percent of the genes found in fruit flies are also found in humans? Fruit flies are studied so that scientists can understand how genes cause some diseases.

Fruit flies have been to space and they are being studied to see how long distance space travel affects the immune system.

You can trap fruit fly and observe them. Here is how:

Get a large plastic water bottle. Cut the top of the lid off.

Place ripe bananas at the bottom of the bottle.

Now place the top upside down in the bottle and tape it. Don’t forget to make a small hole in the cap so that the fly can get inside.

Observe your fruit flies.

Get your free fly printable HERE !!!

Where Flies can be Found in your Home

Most of us have clean houses and this helps with keeping down the fly population. We also have a sewer system and weekly garbage pickups. Different flies like different environments and you’ll find only certain flies in certain areas of the house.

Mosquito is attracted to the porch light.

Blowfly loves garbage cans.

You might find a fungus gnat around your potted plants.

Cluster flies hang out around windowsills.

You might even find a drain fly around your bath drain. I’ve actually never seen any.

The house fly loves table lamps.

Fruit flies thrive on fruit so if you leave soft and ripe fruit on your counters they will populate quickly.

History of Flies

Poor Egyptians! Can you imagine all of the trash and waste dumped on the streets? There were swarms of flies sitting on garbage then they would sit on their food and then on pharaohs face. Egyptians wore so much eyeliner. Men, women, and even children had black kohl around their eyes and this wasn’t only for looks. It was actually to keep flies out of their eyes. Egyptians had a problem because there were flies who carried eye infections from one person to another so they tried everything they could to keep them away from their eyes. The kohl was made from lead products and flies would not go near it.

Before fly swatters there were fly whisks. Egyptians held these in their hands. They were very decorative and beautiful. Horse tail hair was attached to a golden handle.

One place you never hope to find flies is at the hospital. Well in New York during an operation flies dropped from the ceiling and landing on everything that they should have not. This hospital stayed closed for weeks while all of the cracks in the building were caulked.