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What are 5 interesting facts about flies?

Published in Entomology 2 mins read

Here are five fascinating facts about flies, covering their diet, senses, habits, and abilities:

  1. Flies have a liquid diet: Flies don't have teeth and can only consume liquids. When they land on solid food, they often regurgitate digestive enzymes to break it down into a liquid they can then ingest.

  2. They taste with their feet: Flies have taste receptors on their feet, allowing them to sample food simply by landing on it. This allows them to quickly determine if something is a suitable food source.

  3. Flies are frequent defecators: Due to their rapid metabolism and liquid diet, flies defecate frequently. This is why you might see tiny black spots near where flies have been present.

  4. Flies can walk upside down: Flies have tiny claws and sticky pads on their feet that allow them to grip surfaces, even smooth or inverted ones. This enables them to walk on ceilings and other challenging surfaces.

  5. Flies have amazing vision: Flies possess compound eyes made up of thousands of individual lenses, giving them a nearly 360-degree field of vision. This allows them to detect movement from almost any direction, making them difficult to swat.

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