Review author: “ZooVita”
The fly, an insect familiar to every person, is part of the order Diptera. Among flies, there are both those living in the wild and those closely associated with human settlements.
And although it is known that flies can harm human health, many interesting questions regarding these insects remain open, for example, how long do flies live or how do they reproduce?
Description
The body varies in length. Often the length reaches 2 cm. There is a proboscis on the head. Its purpose is to absorb and absorb liquid.
The entire body of the fly will have only three parts. This is her head, her body and abdomen. The legs are three pairs. It is interesting that each such tiny leg, in turn, is also divided into 5 parts.
One of the 5 particles will be a foot and it, in turn, has two sharp claws. It is equipped with sticky pads.
And only these features will allow the front sight to move along the ceiling and any other vertical surfaces.
Features of body structure
Some species of dipterous insects have shortened wings. There are also insects that completely lack wings. As a rule, the presence of one pair of wings is noted, while the hind wings are transformed into halteres, that is, the club-shaped organs of balance of the insect. They also help the insect perform flight maneuvers and are responsible for sensory control during takeoff. Only some parasitic forms of wingless insects lack halteres. The oral apparatus of dipteran insects is a proboscis. In total, there are three types of proboscis: piercing-sucking, muscoid (filtering) and glossinoid (boring). The abdomen consists of visible segments; in dipteran insects there are from 4 to 10. In most females, the last segments are transformed into a telescopically retractable ovipositor. The chest has three segments that are tightly fused together.
The structure of dipterous insects
Eyes
The eyes of this insect can safely be called unique - this is a special organ for such a small insect. They are endowed with several thousand facets, which makes a circular field of vision possible.
So the eyes of this fly can see everything without any problems. This applies not only to what happens to the side, but also to the rear.
Butterfly
Let's start with the most beautiful species - Butterflies. Butterflies feed on the nectar of flowers, thereby pollinating plants.
The butterfly is known for its amazing metamorphoses. In the summer season, they lay eggs in the ground or on plants, from which the caterpillar hatches; after a while, the caterpillar enters the pupa stage (this is a small cocoon in which the future butterfly develops). The cocoon hangs practically motionless until the fruit ripens, and then a beautiful butterfly hatches.
It’s interesting that I talked about the butterfly here and in my favorite author’s book, “The World of Insects.”
Interesting facts about butterflies
- There are many legends about butterflies; in particular, in ancient Rome they believed that a butterfly was a flower petal that was torn off by gusts of wind
- The largest butterfly is the South American moth Tizania agrippina, its wingspan is up to 31 cm! (By the way, we already admired such a giant butterfly in the life-size book “Compare!”)
- And the wingspan of the smallest butterfly - acetosia - is only 2 mm.
- Butterfly wings are made up of tiny scales! Each of which has only one color. And the scales, like a mosaic, form complex patterns of wings.
- Butterflies' taste buds are on their paws.
- The eyes of a butterfly, like an ant, are made up of facets.
- To take off, the butterfly first flaps its wings in place to heat its body to a temperature above 30-35 degrees.
- Butterflies feed on flower nectar, honey, pollen, manure, fermented fruits, and even human sweat! If a butterfly comes to visit you, you can treat it with sugar syrup.
- Butterflies don't sleep. But they rest and during rest they may not move at all.
- A butterfly is known to have 4 stages of development: egg, caterpillar, pupa and butterfly.
- By the way, some caterpillars feed on poisonous plants. The butterflies that hatch from them turn out to be poisonous to birds!
- In Japan they believe that seeing a butterfly in the house is good luck. There is even a special “butterfly dance” that opens all holidays and ceremonial processions.
For more information about the butterfly, look here:
How to make a butterfly with your own hands
Poems and riddles about a butterfly
Carrion
This beauty also has two names. The second one will be a green fly. This insect has a body that shines with emerald. They live near sewage and carrion.
To prevent the female from eating the male's fly after mating, he presents her with some food.
Prevention
To avoid the appearance of unwanted “guests”, it is necessary to maintain cleanliness in the house, especially in the kitchen: wet cleaning, timely emptying of the trash can, washing dishes, destroying spoiled food. Here are four more recommendations that will protect against the “invasion” of flies.
- Proper food storage. Store all food products either in the refrigerator or in a tightly closed container or tied plastic bag.
- Animal hygiene. Clean the cat's litter box or cage in a timely manner, as flies feed on excrement. Wash your pet's bowl daily.
- "Strengthening" windows. In the warm season, when windows and vents are constantly open, install mosquito nets to prevent insects from entering the apartment.
- Repellers. Add essential oils to the water for washing floors, periodically light aroma lamps, hang bunches of dried herbs, the smell of which flies do not like, plant geraniums.
In Ancient Egypt, dipterous insects were considered a symbol of courage and audacity, but now the buzzing arthropod creature personifies importunity. When thinking about how to deal with flies in an apartment, you need to take care of the safety of the methods used for households and pets.
Video on the topic
Ilnitsa bee-eater
This is not a separate species, but just a subspecies of hoverflies. With a lot of names. This is both tenacious and just ordinary. The insect will be large and the length can often be up to about 1.5 cm.
The body is predominantly dark in color. The body is also characterized by the fact that it is covered with pubescence.
The larvae themselves, if they enter the human body, often cause serious intestinal disorders.
Life cycle
Flies breed in contaminated places, on food debris, often in trash cans. A fertilized female lays 70-120 white eggs on the sewage at a time. During her life, one female is capable of laying more than 6 eggs, and the number of eggs can reach up to 2000 pieces. Under favorable conditions, the insect reproduces all year round.
Embryonic development of embryos takes from 8 to 30 hours, depending on temperature. The hatched larvae live and feed in various rotting semi-liquid media, and over a period of 3 to 20 days they manage to molt 3 times before crawling out to a dry place and turning into a pupa. Adult insects that appear after 3-5 days usually live for about a month. From 9 to 20 generations change per year. The timing of development is highly dependent on temperature. They overwinter in a variety of forms - larvae, pupae and adult fertilized females.
Tsetse fly
He is a resident of the African continent. The food for this dangerous predator is blood from wild mammals. Flies will only be carriers of the terrifying tryponosomas.
The disease that this tryponosome causes is one of the most dangerous and incurable. They lead to death due to the destruction of the nervous and immune systems.
Nutrition
What do flies do and what can they eat? Very interesting, but they can be omnivores. That is why they have a high ability to feed on organic food.
If suddenly the food turns out to be too hard for them, they can soak it first. Particular preference will be given to liquid juice and liquid sweets.
№12
They need a small area. You think about these insects flying all over your house, accompanying you outside, etc. In fact, studies have shown that they do not need much space. On top of everything else, they fly very slowly, naturally, if you don’t chase them with a sneaker. The average speed of a fly is 7 km/h, which is slightly more than the speed of a person.
Usually she covers a distance of no more than 1000 meters per day. On average, a person covers 3-4 km per day.
Reproduction
There are a couple of species that will reproduce with viviparous fruits. But most of it belongs to what the larvae will lay. Fly eggs can be laid 2-3 days after mating.
And one clutch can count about 150 testicles. Over a lifetime, this number for one fly can be up to 3 thousand units.
Maggots will appear in a day, then, after a week, an increase of 800 times occurs. And a new life is ready.
Flies are dangerous because they themselves are carriers of dangerous diseases.
Habitat
The fly, whose lifestyle we are considering in our article, belongs to the synanthropic species. This means that its existence is closely connected with man. Flies are especially interested in sewage - garbage cans, containers, rotting products, feces. It is these places that are most suitable for laying eggs, as they are rich in nutrients.
For humans, this insect poses a serious danger. The fact is that on the pads of her feet she carries the causative agents of many diseases - dysentery, cholera, typhoid fever. The difficulty also lies in the fact that harmful microorganisms are not broken down in the digestive tract, but are released outside in a viable form.
Photos of flies
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YsCpe_0Jjw
