FLIES
Insect - Vertebrate - Scavenger
Insect - Vertebrate - Scavenger
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Fly:
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Male: Fly
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Female: Fly
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Young: Maggot
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Mosquito:
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Male: Mosquito
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Female: Mosquito
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Young: Nymph, Tumbler, Wriggler
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FLIES
There are more than 120,000 species of flies.
- Don't bite.
- Houseflies live only about two weeks.
- Hum in the key of F.
- Lay up to 3,000 eggs in its lifetime.
- Eggs hatch into maggots with a day of being laid.
- Hatch as fully grown flies - they don't grow.
- Maggots can be used to clean dead skin around a wound to stop if getting infected.
- Only have 2 wings (most insects have 4).
- Have over 4,000 lenses in each of their two eyes, but they have poor vision - their vision is only sharp for 24-36 inches.
- Smell with their antennae.
- Can walk upside down using glue-oozing pads.
- Jump up then backwards when they take off.
- Vomit on food before they eat it. This liquifies the food for them and then they can suck up the good.
- Defecate every 4-5 minutes.
- Carries 2 million bacteria on its body.
- Carry plenty of diseases, including Yellow Fever.
- Dragonflies can fly at about 30 mph.
- Horseflies find sugar with their feet, which are 10 million times more sensitive than the human tongue.
- The average airspeed of the common housefly is 4.5 miles per hour.
Dance Flies
- The male kills another fly to give as a present to its mate.
- Sometimes they trick the female by wrapping up a bundle of fluff from a plant.
Fruit Flies - the Drosophila fly
- Have helped scientists more than any other animal to study human diseases.
- Have four chromosomes and similar chemical pathways to those of humans.
- Live for about 10 days.
- Can be bred very quickly. Scientists can then study how changes to certain genes will affect the way the body grows.
- Males turn to drink when rejected by females.
- Take their time over difficult decisions.
Fireflies
- Fireflies contain the so-called Luciferin, and combined with oxygen enable them to produce light.
- It is thought that light in adult beetles was originally used for similar warning purposes, but evolved for use in mate selection.
- Fireflies are a classic example of an organism that uses bioluminescence for sexual selection.
- They have evolved a variety of ways to communicate with mates in courtships. From steady glows, flashing, as well as the use of chemical signals unrelated to photic systems.
Mosquitoes
- Are the most dangerous insect in the world.
- Females such blood from animals and humans.
- Pierce the skin and inject in a little saliva to stop the blood clotting.
- Saliva contains tiny micro-organisms and viruses that cause disease.
- Can spread illnesses such as malaria, yellow fever and West Nile virus.
- Malaria kills 1.5 million people each year.
- Are most attracted to people who have just eaten a banana.
Stalk-eyed Flies
- Live in the rainforest of Africa and Asia.
- The eyes are on long stalks that stick out from the sides of their heads.
- They can only clean them by wiping them with the tips of their forelegs.
- Do not have great vision, but the eyes are used as a symbol of strength.
- When two males are competing, they stand head-to-head and the one with the longest stalks wins.
Spiders eat flies, but one family of flies gets its revenge. They young lavae leap onto passing spiders and burrow into them and proceed to eat them from the inside out.
The Tarantula Hawk hunt Tarantula spiders for food for their larvae. It's sting is rated as one of the most painful in the world. It is the official state insect pif New Mexico.
The Tsetse Fly is known to cause Sleeping Sickness in humans and cattle. This sickness is often fateful.
A FIREFLY
STALK-EYED FLY
DANCE FLY
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TIGER MOSQUITO
A TARANTULA HAWK
EMPORER DRAGONFLY
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FRUIT FLY
A TSETSE FLY
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