Top 10 Interesting Facts about Flies

Top 10 Interesting Facts about Flies

In all honesty, flies can be quite a nuisance sometimes, especially when they are busy buzzing around your face. They can get on your nerves pretty fast and can also be a health hazard especially if they are too much in industries like food and pharmaceutical. They can cause great concern because of the health impact they may have on consumers. On the flip side, however, flies can be interesting too. Their system of breeding, feeding, and moving habits are very different compared to those of human beings and thus some of the habits in their ecosystem can be so fascinating. Here are some of the most interesting facts about flies.

1. House flies live on a liquid diet

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House flies don’t typically consume solid foods; they usually survive on liquid diets. This is mainly because they lack the mouthparts needed to chew solid food so they instead have to drink it. It sounds a bit gross but that’s how they survive. They usually suck digestive juices on solid foods that help break down the food into small pieces. This then allows them to use proboscis, the mouth part that helps them drink their meal. So yes. Flies don’t eat their food. They drink it!

2. Flies can taste with their feet

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Just like butterflies, flies can also taste their food using their feet. This is made possible by the taste receptors, scientifically known as, chemonsensilla, located in their lower legs and feet. Hence, whenever a fly lands on a meal (and this can be anything. Literally anything from animal waste to your meal), they usually wander around it for a few minutes in order to give their next meal a good taste before they eventually consume it.

3. They defecate so much!

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One habit with flies is that they defecate so much without even a care in the world where and when they do it. They will defecate anywhere even on your lunch and that’s why they are always considered a health hazard, especially around something we consume into our bodies. So why can’t they seem to help themselves as far as this department is concerned? It’s mainly because of the liquid diet they live on. Due to that kind of diet, their digestive system tends to move too quickly thus tending to excrete waste often. Moreover, it has always been speculated that flies defecate every time they land, whether or not it’s on their next meal.

4.Flies spread so many diseases

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As much as they are fascinating and interesting, it’s not all rosy with flies. Because of their feeding and breeding habits, flies come into contact with many harmful bacteria that can be hazardous to human beings. An example of such bacteria is Salmonella and E.coli. Because of the nature of their feeding habits, they spread the bacteria they come into contact with by contaminating things like food and cooking utensils. The bacteria eventually find their way into our system and that’s what causes many of the bacterial infections we end up having.

5. Flies can walk upside down

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Did you know that flies can actually walk upside down? Pretty cool, right? This is made possible because of the anatomy that enables them to walk and climb on surfaces, whether this surface is horizontal, vertical, or upside down. What helps them support themselves even when upside down, is the two fat foot pads scientifically known as pulvilli which have tiny hairs that produce a glue-like substance made of sugar and oils. The pads help a lot in having excellent grip and in turn perfect for scaling and walking around on any surface.

6. They can perfectly see behind them

Image by Virvoreanu Laurentiu from Pixabay

Some people like joking that they have the eyes of flies to mean that they are really smart. This joke makes sense and is amusing because of the compound eyes they have. These eyes provide them with a nearly 360-degree viewpoint that allows them to comfortably see behind themselves. So never think that you can creep behind a fly unknowingly. They know and can see you! Also, being able to see in all directions allows them to navigate well while at the same time being on the lookout for danger.

7. Flies have a very short lifespan

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The life cycle of flies isn’t that long. It only lasts for 30 days maximum on average. In their very short lifespan, however, they are able to accomplish a lot as they are able to lay up to 500 eggs in their lifetime. The eggs are usually in batches of about 75 to 150 thus an infestation can very easily and quickly arise through the new generations. Therefore even if they don’t live long, by the time they are dying, they have left behind a bunch more. In a way, it’s like leaving behind a whole new generation to carry on within a span of only a month.

8. They have the most amazing reaction times

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When it comes to responding to stimuli by instantly reacting, flies take the cake. That is why it is so difficult to swat a fly or even kill one. Their agility and reaction time are very impressive as they are able to see and react accordingly at an amazing speed. To put things into comparison, our brains as human beings process about 60 images per second but for flies, it’s 250 images per second. You can therefore see the difference. It explains why they are always alert at all times and know exactly what’s going in in their surroundings.

9. Flies have very unhygienic breeding habits

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Again, when it comes to breeding, flies can be very disgusting to put it plainly. They never really take into consideration where they are laying their eggs as they will do this even with feces, rotting carcasses, and decaying fruits. They simply don’t care because again, to them that’s food. The reason they choose such grounds for breeding is so that the larvae, in other words, maggots, can find something to eat when they hatch. Pretty thoughtful indeed, but disgusting according to human standards.

10. Male flies are constantly looking for dates

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I guess when it comes to mating and dating all creatures are similar and males will always be males. In perception, many studies have shown that there is a specific spot in the eyes of a male fly known as a ‘love spot,’ used specifically to detect and chase down female flies. The spot is used to detect small target motions but for the males, they use it to stay locked onto a potential male as they are conducting their aerial pursuits.

Flies are interesting creatures. The way they go about their lives not even caring that many of their habits are considered disgusting by human standards is just amusing.