Wikijunior:Bugs/Fly
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The word "Fly" is often used to describe the house fly. There are more than 110,000 species of flies. That makes the Fly group the fourth largest insect group.
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[edit] What does it look like?
Flies tend to have big eyes, one pair of wings, and have a suction cup like mouth. They have six legs and on each leg is a tarsus (foot). On each foot there are two claws that act like glue. They help with gripping things. This is why you can find flies walking on ceilings and windows. It has a sponge-like mouth which dabs up food. When eating solid food, the fly throws up an acid that turns the food into a mush and then dabs it up.
[edit] Where does it live?
Flies live outdoors or indoors. Flies can be found around rotting food and meat. Flies are more common in warm weather. Many people have problems with flies entering their houses.
[edit] What does it eat?
Many flies eat dead plant and animal matter. A number of flies even feed on blood. Adult flies feed on sugary food of any kind, including nectar and rotting fruit.
[edit] What stages of metamorphosis does it go through?
Flies start out as eggs the eggs hatch about twelve hours after they were laid moving on to the stage of larvae (maggots). They stay in the larvae stage five to six days and then they become known as pupa. The pupa stage can last from four days to one month and then they move on to the adult stage.
[edit] How does this bug affect people?
House flies are not known to be outright dangerous to us because they are so small but flies carry diseases that can be transferred to humans. Some species of flies can bite and transfer diseases that way but flies also land in the trash to eat their food. After being in the garbage some flies come over to our plate and land. Now the mold and trash that they landed in is on our food and we can get sick from that. Flies, while in the maggot stage, can damage crops and they can also help people by cleaning wounds and in the process of making food (particularly cheeses).
