Modern science has more than 30 thousand species of flies, and every year the list is replenished. Special sticky pads located at the bottom of the legs help flies move along the walls and ceiling of the flies.
Insects rub their feet in order to clean the pads of debris. In addition, on the legs are organs responsible for touch and taste. A fly literally tastes food with its feet!
Fly vision
The eyes of this insect are made up of several thousand facets. Each of them captures only a part of the image, and therefore the fly sees a “mosaic” world. Thanks to such an unusual arrangement of the organs of vision, it has an almost circular view. Behind the two main eyes on the head are three simple eyes.
In addition to flowers visible to humans, the fly distinguishes between polarized light and ultraviolet light. But with a clear vision, the insect does not matter. The world is vague for her. This disadvantage is partially offset by a high sensitivity to changes in lighting.
Smell and Description
The antennae on the fly’s head, oddly enough, are the organs of smell. The insect sniffs and picks up smells with its antennae. more than 500 meters away.
Most species of flies have a pair of main wings and additional ones, the purpose of which is to correct the flight. Interestingly, some species have no wings at all!
Before eating, the fly moistens it with saliva, trying to dilute its consistency.Her stomach is unable to digest solid foods.
The well-known housefly lays up to 150 eggs at a time. Because the the life expectancy of representatives of this species is about a month, they lay about 3,000 eggs in their lifetime.
Species of flies and what is dangerous to humans?
These insects are carriers of diseases such as diphtheria, typhoid fever, cholera, tuberculosis, anthrax, polio, diphtheria.
Among the species of pests, the most famous is the Hessian fly. Outwardly, she looks like a mosquito, because one of her names is a bread mosquito. Its larvae are capable of completely destroying cereals, in particular they love rye and wheat. The attacks of the bread mosquito used to lead to starvation in entire countries.
The competition for this pest is cabbage fly - an incredibly gluttonous species. The larvae of this insect completely eat cruciferous.
One of the most interesting species of predatory flies is pushers. The rules of their mating games are surprising: for some time flies dance in the air. Representatives of the stronger sex fly up to the females with a present - a neatly packed fly. If the lady did not like the present, the unlucky boyfriend can easily bite off her head. Everything is like people ...
Pushers catch prey in flight, strung on spikes located on the front paws and sucked the insides. Their larvae are also predators.
Fly - Tsetse
The famous tsetse fly is deservedly considered the most famous insect in Africa. It is curious that these "celebrities" are not poisonous, but the victims of this are not easier.The fly feeds on the blood of animals and suffers a very dangerous sleeping sickness.
As the insect moves quietly, the bite is noticed too late. After it, a red tumor remains, after about a few weeks the victim begins to have headaches and muscle pains, the lymph nodes swell, the body temperature rises markedly, convulsions begin. In such a painful state, a person can stay for several years. Sleeping sickness is difficult to treat, especially at the medical level that is common in most African countries.
Even in the century before last, the real epidemic covered the continent, now every year about 10 thousand cases of sleeping sickness are recorded every year. Most cases traditionally occur in Congo due to the climate.
Tsetse flies and animals suffer. Interesting that these insects disdain only zebras. Tsetse flies do not bite zebras due to their unusual coloration; they do not consider minke whales to be living creatures.
Tsetse is not a species, but a whole genus of flies, including several species. This complicates the already difficult task of reducing their number. However, the problem has moved forward: Ethiopia decided to put out the fire with oncoming fire. Scientists grow tsetse males, sterilize them and release them. Since females mate only once in a lifetime and no longer allow males to come to them, they remain barren.
We will return from Africa to our lands. The largest flies of the temperate climatic zone are popularly called horseflies. Usually they are satisfied with the juice of plants, only females eat blood before laying eggs.During feeding, the female horsefly is completely given to the process, not being distracted by what is happening around, hence the name.
The benefits to humans
Some species of flies benefit humans. For example, a tahin fly lays eggs in the bodies of larvae and adult pests, regulating the number of leafworms, silkworms, sawflies, and fireflies.
