Fly
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Nematocera (includes Eudiptera) |
As defined by entomologists, a fly (plural flies) is any species of insect of the order Diptera, or true flies. Insects of the order diptera are characterized by having a single pair of true wings, which are used for flight, while the hind wings are reduced into a pair of small knob-like structures called the halteres. In practice, however, the term fly may be used in referring to almost any kind of small flying insect, such as mayflies, which have four wings.
Diptera is a large order containing an estimated 200,000 species, although under half of these (about 85,000 species) have been described. The Diptera are general divided into two suborders, the Nematocera and the Barchycera. Diptera include flies, mosquitoes, gnats and midges. Some species are secondarily wingless (especially in the superfamily Hippoboscoidea, or those that live commensally with other species in social insect colonies).
Diptera is one of the major insect orders both in terms of ecological and human (medical and economic) importance. Ecologically, diptera are very diverse and fill many roles. They may be predaceous, herbivorous, endo- and ectoparasitic, saprophagous, necrophagous, and so forth. In addition to being an essential part of the food chain, some species of flies spread pollen, hasten the decomposition of plants, animals, and dung, and, in the case of about 5000 species of Tachina flies, eat other insects.
Flies are common among humans and some can cause the spread of serious diseases such as sleeping sickness. In particular the Culicidae family, which includes the mosquito, is of phenomenal historical and current importance as disease transmitters. The housefly (Musca domestica) is particularly common among humans. Other flies, such as the horse fly (Family Tabanidae), can inflict painful bites.
The larva of a fly is commonly called a maggot. The study of the Diptera is called dipterology.
Overview
Flies rely heavily on sight for survival. The compound eyes of flies are composed of thousands of individual lenses and are very sensitive to movement. Some flies have very accurate 3D vision. A few, like Ormia ochracea, have very advanced hearing organs.
Flies can move from one point to another point by flying, but they can also walk and run (or scurry), such as moving around a piece of fruit in search of sugar.
The diet of flies varies heavily between species. The horse-fly and mosquitoes feed on blood and nectar, and the house fly eats a semi-digested liquid created by mixing enzyme-rich saliva with its food.
In compound names containing "fly" for members of this order, the name is normally written as two words, as in "crane fly", though there are exceptions, such as "sandfly," "blackfly," and often "housefly." For insects that are members of other orders the name should be written as a single word, as in "butterfly", "scorpionfly", and so forth.
Classification
There are two generally accepted suborders of Diptera. The Nematocera are usually recognized by their elongated bodies and feathery antennae as represented by mosquitoes and crane flies. The Brachycera tend to have a more roundly proportioned body and very short antennae. The Nematocera divided into 77 families of which 35 are extinct ( fossil only ) and the Brachycera with 141 families of which 8 are extinct. A more recent classification has been proposed in which the Nematocera is split into two suborders, the Archidiptera and the Eudiptera, but this has not yet gained widespread acceptance among dipterists.
- Suborder Nematocera – long antennae, pronotum distinct from mesonotum. In Nematocera larvae are either eucephalic or hemicephalic and often aquatic.
- Suborder Brachycera – short antennae, the pupa is inside a puparium formed from the last larval skin. Brachycera are generally robust flies with larvae having reduced mouthparts.
- Infraorders Tabanomorpha and Asilomorpha – these comprise the majority of what was the Orthorrhapha under older classification schemes. The antennae are short, but differ in structure from those of the Muscomorpha.
- Infraorder Muscomorpha – (largely the Cyclorrhapha of older schemes). Muscomorpha have 3-segmented, aristate (with a bristle) antennae and larvae with three instars that are acephalic (maggots).
Most of the Muscomorpha are further subdivided into the Acalyptratae and Calyptratae based on whether or not they have a calypter (a wing flap that extends over the halteres).
Beyond that, considerable revision in the taxonomy of the flies has taken place since the introduction of modern cladistic techniques, and much remains uncertain. The secondary ranks between the suborders and the families are more out of practical or historical considerations than out of any strict respect for phylogenetic classifications. (Modern cladists tend to spurn the use of Linnaean rank names.) Nearly all classifications in use now, including this article, contain some paraphyletic groupings; this is emphasized where the numerous alternative systems are most greatly at odds.
Fly-like insects
Examples
- mayfly: Ephemeroptera
- dragonfly and damselfly: Odonata
- stonefly: Plecoptera
- whitefly: Hemiptera
- firefly: Coleoptera
- alderfly, dobsonfly, and fishfly: Megaloptera
- snakefly, mantidfly, and owlfly: Neuroptera
- sawfly: Hymenoptera
- caddisfly: Trichoptera
- butterfly: Lepidoptera
- scorpionfly, earwigfly, and hangingfly: Mecoptera
Life cycle
While complex, the life cycle of each fly species follows the same four stages: egg, larva (commonly known as a maggot), pupa, adult.
The duration of fly life cycles, from egg to adult, vary widely with species and environmental conditions, including temperature and food. For example, the life cycle of the house fly is about 7 to 10 days in warm temperatures. For the fruit fly (Drosophilia melanogaster) the shortest development time from egg to adult, 7 days, is achieved at 28 °C, while it takes 11 days at 30 °C, 19 days at 18 °C, and over 50 days at 12 °C (Ashburner and Thompson 1978, Ashburner et al. 2005).
Different species have their own characteristics relative to mating and egg laying. Fly eggs may be laid in decaying flesh, animal dung, manure, or pools of stagnant water—generally conditions that offer ample food for the larva, generally in a moist area. This can include both meat in trash compactors as well as rats that have died between the ceiling and floor of a home.
AFter an egg has hatched, the fly enters the maggot stage. It begins to feed on whatever the egg was laid on, usually decomposing flesh. The maggot gorges itself with food until it is ready to enter the pupal stage, at which point the maggot travels away from the food source to a moist spot. During the pupal stage, it morphorphosizes into an adult.
Importance of maggots
Long ago, some doctors noticed soldiers that had maggots on their wounds healed quicker than those without maggots.[citation needed] Maggots eat the dead skin cells and bacteria. Maggot Therapy (also known as Maggot Debridement Therapy (MDT), larval therapy, larva therapy, or larvae therapy) is the intentional introduction of live, disinfected maggots or fly larvae into non-healing skin or soft tissue wounds of a human or other animal. This practice was widely used before the discovery of antibiotics, as it serves to clean the dead tissue within a wound in order to promote healing.
Some types of maggots found on corpses can be of great use to forensic scientists. By their stage of development, these maggots can be used to give an indication of the time elapsed since death, as well as the place the organism died. The size of the house fly maggot is 9.5-19.1mm (3/8 to 3/4 inch). At the height of the summer season, a generation of flies (egg to adult) may be produced in 12-14 days.
Maggots are classified using "instar" stages. An instar I is about 2-5 mm long; instar II 6-14 mm; instar III 15-20 mm. These correspond to an age of 2-3 days, 3-4 days, and 4-6 days (for average house flies or bottle flies) since the eggs were laid. Some forensic scientists use this data to determine the approximate time of death of a human body.
Various maggots cause damage in agricultural crop production, including root maggots in rapeseed and midge maggots in wheat. Some maggots are leaf miners.
Maggots are bred commercially, as a popular bait in angling, and a food for carnivourous pets such as reptiles or birds. Due to the increasing popularity of maggots, a maggot vending machine has been installed in the English county town of Northampton.[citation needed]
Maggots have been used in food production, particularly cheese. For more information, see Casu marzu.
As with fleas and ticks, maggots can be a threat to household pets. Flies reproduce rapidly in the summer months and maggots can come in large numbers, creating a maggot infestation and a high risk of myiasis in pets. Despite the fact that maggots only eat dead tissue, they can be painful and present a serious risk to pets or any other animals. Humans are not immune to the feeding habits of maggots and can also contract myiasis. Interaction between humans and maggots usually occurs near garbage cans, dead animals, rotten food, and other breeding grounds for maggots. Maggots will look for dark moist areas and are commonly found in unclean places such as under bed sheets.
A major problem also arises when maggots turn into flies and start the life cycle over again. Within a few generations the number of maggots exponentially grows and becomes a serious problem. Professionals can remove maggots or many over the counter bug sprays can be used to deter flies and maggots. Keeping trash in a sealed container and using a garbage disposal or freezing rotting leftovers until trash day help prevent infestation.
Flies in mythology and religion
- In traditional Navajo religion, Big Fly is an important spirit being.
- In demonology, Beelzebub is referred to as the "Lord of the Flies".
- In Greek mythology, Myiagros was a god who chased away flies during the sacrifices to Zeus and Athena. Also, Zeus sent a fly to sting the horse Pegasus causing Bellerophon to fall back to Earth when he attempted to ride to Mount Olympus.
Flies in art and popular culture
- In art, extremely life-like flies have sometimes been depicted in the trompe l'oeil paintings of the 15th century. An example is the painting Portrait of a Carthusian by Petrus Christus, showing a fly sitting on a fake frame. [1]
- The 1958 science fiction film The Fly, remade in 1986, revolves around the accidental merger of a human and a fly. In reality, the human bot fly lives parasitically in the human body.
- In 2001, Garnet Hertz produced an art project in which a complete web server was implanted into a dead fly.
- In music:
- AC/DC, an Australian hard rock band, released an album called Fly on the Wall in 1985. The cover featured a fly, probably the same fly that is animated in the Fly on the Wall videos.
- Iron Maiden, a heavy metal band, released a song called Lord of the flies as a single for their album The X Factor in 1996 (later released on the live Death on the Road). It was based on the book by the same name.
- Alice in chains released an album called Jar of flies.
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
Biology
- Harold Oldroyd The Natural History of Flies. New York: W. W. Norton.1965.
- Eugène Séguy Diptera: recueil d'etudes biologiques et systematiques sur les Dipteres du Globe (Collection of biological and systematic studies on Diptera of the World). 11 vols. Text figs. Part of Encyclopedie Entomologique, Serie B II: Diptera. 1924-1953.
- Eugène Seguy. La Biologie des Dipteres 1950. pp. 609. 7 col + 3 b/w plates, 225 text figs.
Classification
- Colless, D.H. & McAlpine, D.K.1991 Diptera (flies) , pp. 717-786. In: The Division of Entomology. Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Canberra (spons.), The insects of Australia.Melbourne Univ. Press, Melbourne.
- Griffiths, G.C.D. The phylogenetic classification of Diptera Cyclorrhapha, withspecial reference to the structure of the male postabdomen. Ser. Ent. 8, 340 pp. [Dr. W. Junk, N. V., The Hague] (1972).
- Hendel, F. 1935 Bemerkungen zu "The families and genera of North American Diptera" by C. H.Curran,New-York 1934. Konowia 14: 51-57. [1935.03.15]
- Willi Hennig Die Larvenformen der Dipteren. 3. Teil. Akad.-Verlag, Berlin. 185 pp., 3 pls. 1948 and
- Flugelgeader und System der Dipteren unter Berucksichtigung der aus dem Mesozoikum beschriebenen Fossilien. Beitr. Ent. 4: 245-388 (1954).
A very well-researched reference list of works on the Phylogeny (Classification and Identification of Diptera) is provided by Thompson as a pdf [2]
Evolution
Blagoderov, V.A., Lukashevich, E.D. & Mostovski, M.B. 2002. Order Diptera. In: Rasnitsyn, A.P. and Quicke, D.L.J. The History of Insects, Kluwer Publ., Dordrecht, Boston, London, pp. 227-240.
Identification
- Erwin Lindner Die Fliegen der Paläarktischen Region. The available parts of this very large work are listed on the publishers website [3]. Band 1 Handbuch, by Lindner himself, contains a history of dipterology, with sections on morphology, physiology and taxonomy with a key to families and short notes on each. The work is finished and almost all parts are out of date but it remains the essential work.
- Faune de France Lechevalier, Paris. The many parts of this work are listed on the publishers website [4]. Less comprehensive than Lindner and , similarly, out of date but more convenient to use. The best parts are Parent on Dolichopodidae and Séguy’s large part 28 on Muscidae (including Anthomyiidae) Scathophagidae and Acalyptratae).
- Diptera of European part of Russia and Diptera of Far East of the U.S.S.R. in Fauna of the U.S.S.R. (New Series Fauna SSSR)
(Nasekomye dvukrylye) Chief Editor: B.E. Bykhovskii; Editorial board: I.M. Gromov, A.S. Monchadskii, A .A. Shtakel’berg, 0-A. Skarlato, and A.A. Strelkov (Volume editor) Izdatel’stvo “Nauka”Leningradskoe Otdelenie Leningrad (St. Petersburg). In Russian but with very useful figures. Some parts have been translated. Can anyone add a full list and availalibility details?
- Willi Hennig Diptera (Zweifluger). Handb. Zool. Berl. 4 (2 ) (31):1-337. General introduction with key to World Families. In German.
- László Papp and Béla Darvas Contributions to a Manual of Palaearctic Diptera. This book series was written by a group of international scientists. (1992-2000).
- McAlpine, J. P. (ed.) Manual of Nearctic Diptera. Research Branch, Agriculture Canada Monograph 27, 28 & 32 1981-89. Very good family and other keys.
- Smith, KGV 1989 An introduction to the immature stages of British flies. Diptera (14). Handbks. Ident. Br. Insects 10(14). RESL Excellent introduction to Diptera larvae.
External links
- Diptera.info This is an interactive site for dipterists from all continents dealing with all aspects of dipterology (the study of Diptera: flies and midges) and dipterists.
- Order Diptera - True Flies of North America
- Catalog of Neartic Diptera
- The Diptera Site
- The Bishop Museum Catalog of Fossil Diptera
- The Tree of Life Project
- Katalog der Dipteren Bayerns
- Flies Virginia Tech USA
- Species Accounts
- The British Dipterists Forum
- Diptera 02gg.jpg
Calliphoridae - greenbottle fly
Sarcophagidae - flesh fly
Muscidae - lesser house fly
Dolichopodidae - longlegged fly
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- ↑ Ashburner, M. and J. N. Thompson (1978). The laboratory culture of Drosophila. In: The genetics and biology of Drosophila. (eds: Ashburner, M. and T. R. F. Wright) Academic Press. volume 2A: 1-81
- ↑ Ashburner, M., K. G. Golic and R. S. Hawley (2005). Drosophila: A Laboratory Handbook. Cold Spring Harbor, New York, USA, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press. Relevant data at page 162-164.
