Warning: I teach 7th graders for a living. As such, my sense of humor is about on par with that of a 7th grader’s. If you haven’t caught that in any of my previous posts, you will definitely notice in this one. Reader’s discretion is advised… to be thrown out the window.
Photogenic Flies
I have always found flies to be disgusting! Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate them and understand their place in nature; however, I haven’t quite found a place for them in my house or at my bar-b-que. I mean, did you know that flies barf on their food before they eat it?! Flies aren’t able to chew their food, so they have to make sure it is nice and liquidy, first. This process entails retching up some of their stomach contents, including digestive enzymes that break solid food down into vomit puree that the fly can then slurp up with specialized mouthparts called labella. You read that right: a regular part of a fly’s diet is its OWN VOMIT!
Waiting On A Hot Meal All Day!
Every time a fly lands on my food, I can’t help but imagine it making meal preparations before I have a chance to shoo it away. I guess the good news is that flies and their kin have been on this planet waaay longer than humans have (Check out some some of their fossils here). If my human ancestors have survived eating fly puke for hundreds of thousands of years, I don’t suppose it’s going to kill me…
OR COULD IT?
During the Spanish American War, US forces suffered 260 combat related fatalities; however, there were 1,590 deaths due to disease, and 87% of those were the result of typhoid fever - a disease that can be spread by flies!
It turns out that flies land on all kinds of nasty crap. No, literally! They often land on animal poop to lay their eggs. Then, they buzz on over to your picnic table and leave dookie tracks in your potato salad. Oh, and have you ever noticed how flies have a tendency to rub their front legs together like some kind of evil genius? You know, like this…
The Same Thing We Do Every Night, Pinky
… that’s just a fly’s way of washing its hands; by simply dropping all of its germs right where it is standing. It’s a lot like my kids and their dirty socks.
NOW, FOR THE GOOD?
Okay, I’ll admit; chances of catching a fly-borne disease in the US today are pretty slim. We have some really good sanitary procedures in place, and most of us have an immune system that can overcome the small doses of germ particles that fly footprints leave behind.
But, as a nature lover and a science teacher, I feel compelled to present all of God’s creatures (even the disgusting ones) in a positive light. Flies are an integral part of our ecosystem. For starters, they are very important pollinators. In fact, many flowers have evolved specifically to attract flies instead of bees. Flies are also keystone players in the food web. Imagine what would happen if all flies on Earth simply vanished. Humans would be able to enjoy eating outdoors without having to worry about ingesting another animal’s puke, right? But, it wouldn’t take too long until we would begin noticing a few changes around us. Small things at first. The evenings would begin to get quieter without all of those frogs. What happened to them? Their population crashed when they couldn’t find enough food, because flies are a major component of a frog’s diet. But, so are mosquitoes, and now there aren’t any frogs around to eat those, so their population explodes. Now, you’re running around the yard flailing like a crazy person, and it dawns on you: “there sure is a lot of Fido’s poop out here. I don’t remember it sticking around this long, before.” That’s because it didn’t. For all of the trash I’ve talked about flies’ tendencies to land on feces and other carrion, we should be thanking them daily for doing it. They play a major role in the decomposition process. Their larvae can make quick work of even large animals and their poo. Without them, we’d be up to our ears in troubles (and other disgusting things).
I have also found flies to be very photogenic. We are use to seeing them as small dark spots on our hot dogs, but have you ever seen one up close? We have a mimosa tree right outside of our back door that has been dropping sap everywhere, lately, and this has been bringing in hordes of flies. They like to land on the leaves and catch an easy meal of sweet, gooey tree blood. They must really like the stuff, because they have allowed me to get in really close with my camera to catch some pretty cool images. In fact, after seeing flies in more intricate detail, my opinion about them is beginning to change. Not to the point that I’m going to invite them into my house, but I am beginning to view them as more than just disgusting but integral participants in nature. They are actually {gulp} beautiful creatures.
So, next time you see a fly buzzing around the kitchen, don't just immediately swat it; get a few snapshots, first! And, if you do, share them here in the comments. I would love to see them!