Insect with complete transformation (with metamorphosis) goes through four stages in its development: egg - larva - pupa - adult insect (imago).

Pay attention!

Orders of insects with complete transformation: butterflies (Lepidoptera), beetles (Coleoptera), Diptera, Hymenoptera, fleas.

Most species of insects are characterized by development with complete transformation. In insects with complete metamorphosis (butterflies, beetles, flies, wasps, ants), the larvae do not at all resemble adults. They have no compound eyes (there are only simple eyes, or no visual organs at all), often no antennae, no wings; the body is most often worm-shaped (for example, butterfly caterpillars).

In insects with complete metamorphosis, the larvae often live in completely different places and feed on different foods than adult insects. This eliminates competition between different stages of the same species.

Insect larvae with complete metamorphosis molt several times, grow and, having reached their maximum size, turn into doll. The pupa is usually motionless. An adult insect emerges from the pupa.

Watch a video that shows a Monarch butterfly emerging from its chrysalis.

Order Butterflies, or Lepidoptera

Butterflies differ from other insects mainly in two ways: scaly covering of wings and sucking mouthparts, rolled up in a spiral.

Butterflies are called Lepidoptera because they have small chitinous structures on their wings. scales. They refract the incident light, creating a bizarre play of shades.

The coloring of the wings of butterflies helps them recognize each other, camouflages them in the grass and on the bark of trees, or warns enemies that the butterfly is inedible.

Mouthparts of butterflies sucking- This is a proboscis curled into a spiral. Butterflies feed on the nectar of flowers.

Butterfly larvae (caterpillars) have gnawing mouthparts and feed on plant tissue (most often).

When pupating, the caterpillars of some butterflies secrete silk threads. The silk thread is secreted by a special silk gland located on the lower lip of the caterpillar.

Order Beetles, or Coleoptera

Representatives of this group have dense, hard elytra covering the second pair of leathery wings, with which they fly. The mouthparts are gnawing.

Among the beetles there are many herbivores, there are predators and carrion eaters.

Beetles live in the ground-air environment (on plants, the surface of the earth, in the soil) and in water.

Beetle larvae are both very mobile predators, living openly, and sedentary, worm-like, living in shelters and feeding on plants, fungi, and sometimes decomposing remains of organisms.

Order Diptera

These insects have only one pair of wings. The second pair is greatly reduced and serves to stabilize the flight. This group includes mosquitoes and flies. They have piercing-sucking or licking mouthparts. Some dipterans feed on pollen and nectar of flowers (syrphid flies), there are predators (quackers) and bloodsuckers (mosquitoes, midges, midges, horseflies). Their larvae live in the decaying remains of cesspools, composts (houseflies), in water (mosquitoes and midges) or lead a wandering lifestyle and prey on small insects.

Order Hymenoptera

The group includes such well-known insects as bumblebees, wasps, bees, ants, sawflies, and wasps. They have two pairs of membranous wings (some have no wings).

The fly (Musca) got its name from the ancient Slavic word “mus”, meaning “gray”. Diptera insects belong to the phylum Arthropoda, class Insectae, order Diptera.

Fly - description and characteristics

The body length of a fly can be from a few millimeters to 2 cm. The insect has a pair of membranous wings, a rather large head, endowed with an oral organ - a proboscis, designed for sucking up liquid food. The fly's body consists of three parts: head, abdomen and chest, ending with three pairs of legs. Each leg of a fly is divided into five segments. One part is the foot, with two sharp claws and sticky pads. This feature allows the fly to quickly move along the ceiling and any vertical surfaces.

The eyes of a fly are a unique organ. Thanks to several thousand hexagonal facets, the fly has a circular field of vision, so its huge eyes can easily simultaneously see everything that happens to the side and even behind. The organ of smell is the antennae, which are capable of recognizing odors at great distances.

Types of flies, names and photographs

There are 3,650 species of flies in the world, some of which are particularly common:

• indoor(house) fly

a gray insect native to the Asian steppes. Distributed everywhere, most often near human habitation. Externally, many species are similar to the house fly, but it is distinguished by a special break at the edge of the wings. Under favorable conditions, the insect can live up to 2 months;

• hoverfly (syrphid)

looks and habits similar to . The insect is distinguished by a black and yellow striped body and transparent wings. The hoverfly feeds on the nectar of flowering plants and is absolutely harmless. The fly got its name from the murmuring sound made by its wings when hovering;

• green(carrion) fly

An insect with a shiny emerald body that lives near sewage and carrion. To avoid being eaten after mating, the male fly first offers the female some food;

• common milkweed (tenacious) or bee-shaped milkweed

considered a subspecies of hover flies. A large insect, up to 1.5 cm long, with a dark-colored body covered with hairy pubescence. Beeworm larvae that enter the human body can cause serious intestinal disorders;

• ktyr

a large predatory fly that poses a danger to midges, as well as similar flies. Killing various dangerous insects with a sharp sting and poison, tyri flies bring significant benefits to humanity;

• Tsetse fly

inhabitant of the African continent. The main source of nutrition for this dangerous predator is the blood of wild mammals, as well as livestock and people. Tsetse flies are carriers of trypanosomes, which cause an incurable disease that destroys the immune and nervous systems and leads to death.

Tsetse fly. Alan R Walker, CC BY-SA 3.0

Where do flies live?

Flies live on all continents except Antarctica, near animal burrows and human habitation. This heat-loving insect cannot tolerate sub-zero temperatures: already at +8, the laid eggs of flies die.

What do flies eat?

Flies are omnivorous insects and can feed on any organic food. The flies pre-soak solid food with saliva. Sweet liquids and foods are especially preferred. Some types of flies are true “gourmets” and eat exclusively onions or. Pyophyllides (cheese flies) reproduce only inside the head of cheese.

Reproduction of flies

With the exception of some viviparous species, most flies lay eggs. Males attract females with a low buzzing sound. 2-3 days after mating, the female fly is ready to lay eggs in any food or organic waste.

One clutch contains approximately 150 eggs. During its existence, a female fly is capable of laying up to 3 thousand eggs. After a day, fly larvae and maggots appear.

This stage of development lasts about a week, during which time the larva increases in size up to 800 times.

The larval stage progresses to pupation and continues for another week. An adult fly, which does not change its size throughout its life, is born 12-14 days after laying eggs.

For the first 2-3 days, until the wings become stronger, the insect can only crawl. The average lifespan of a fly is 3 weeks.

In terms of the number of currently known species (more than 80,000), this order ranks fourth in the class of insects, second only to beetles, butterflies and hymenoptera. Diptera include various mosquitoes and flies, which play a significant role in nature and human economy (mainly negative). Diptera are very widespread, both horizontally and vertically: they live in tropical, temperate and subpolar countries, in lowlands, plains and mountains. The dipterousness of these insects is apparent. In fact, they also have a second pair of wings, but it is underdeveloped and has turned into a special organ - the haltere, which performs an important function in flight. The halteres are especially clearly visible in the centipedes. Diptera are also characterized by the absence of true legs in the larvae, and in some groups the larvae are also deprived of a head. The relatively rare phenomenon of winglessness is observed in chione mosquitoes, in bloodsucking flies (sheep's fleece), in flies living in anthills (only females are wingless), in termite flies (the wings are vestigial). The ability to fly is better developed in flies than in mosquitoes. Some flies (for example, blue carrion flies and hoverflies) are migratory. In 1953, Hilary and Tensing discovered hoverflies in the Himalayan mountains at an altitude of about 4 thousand m, flying over the ridge along with butterflies. The oral parts of dipterans are adapted to receiving liquid food and are modified in various ways, forming either sucking lobes (in flies) or a piercing proboscis (in mosquitoes).

Diptera have well-developed organs of vision in the form of a pair of large compound eyes and, in addition, 2-3 simple ocelli (not all). Eyes are better developed in predatory dipterans (for example, in tyres), which is associated with the need not only to see prey, but also to fix its location before it is captured. The eyes of male mosquitoes from the family of thick-legged and aximiids have reached a high degree of perfection: each eye is, as it were, divided into two parts, of which the upper one consists of large facets, and the lower one - of small ones. This structure contributes to the differentiation of the perception of the environment. The arrangement of the eyes of the diopsid flies that live in the Caucasus and Siberia is remarkable. Their eyes sit at the ends of long stalks diverging to the side, providing the insect with a wide spatial vision, which makes it easier for it to navigate in the air. The function of such eyes is reminiscent of the work of an artillery rangefinder, which once again indicates the possibility that the principles of constructing technical devices coincide with the structure of animal organs of similar use. Of great importance for the technical improvement of photographic equipment was the study by bionics of the structure and functions of fly eyes, which made it possible to reproduce the cellular structure of the fly eye and create a special device of 1329 small lenses combined into one flat disk. This device produces multiple images and is designed to reproduce highly accurate microscopic circuits in electronic computers.

The olfactory organs of dipterans are antennae, covered with special tubercles capable of capturing various odors, reacting to a huge number of different substances. Many dipterans pick up the slightest odors from long distances, finding suitable food or a place for laying eggs. For example, flies smell carrion from afar and flock to it. However, they can be deceived and attracted to the similar smell of the so-called stinking gum or to the smell of flowers that have a corpse-like odor. Female mosquitoes flock to the smell of stagnant, polluted water, where they lay their eggs. The substance isolated from such water in minute concentrations can attract mosquitoes, which indicates their keen sense of smell. As you know, female mosquitoes must suck the blood of animals or humans for normal development of eggs. They search for their prey by smell carried by the wind, and fly from 3 to 20 km in search of food. Having discovered a suitable object for bloodsucking, they signal this to other females using a squeak of a certain pitch.

In dipterans, sounds arise during flight due to the vibration of the wings and can serve as a means of communication. For example, males detect the sound of a flying female by the vibrations of her wings at a speed of 350 beats per second in some species, and 500-550 in others. The sound receivers are the Johnston organs located on the antennae and the hairs on the antennae, which vibrate like a tuning fork in unison with the perceived vibrations. One way to control mosquitoes is to lure them to a certain place by playing a mosquito squeak recorded on tape. In the future, small ultrasonic installations will be able to free large areas from mosquitoes and other harmful insects, and people from constructing expensive drainage channels in the breeding areas of these bloodsuckers. In recent years, it has been found that mosquitoes communicate with each other using electromagnetic waves in the millimeter range within a radius of up to 15 m. Moreover, each type of mosquito is characterized by a certain wavelength at which clear signals are given.

The hairs covering certain parts of the body of dipterans (as in other insects) perform the functions of various sensory organs. Some of them are hygroreceptors that detect the degree of atmospheric humidity, others are thermoreceptors that respond to thermal influences, others are tangoreceptors that perceive touch, etc. Canadian scientist Wright found that mosquitoes find a person by three factors that attract them: exhaled carbon dioxide gas, moisture and heat radiation. This is where the idea of ​​creating a mosquito trap that produces all three factors came from. This trap was made from a tin shaped like a mushroom. A candle is placed in the stem of the mushroom, and a small bath of water is placed in the cap. Heat and carbon dioxide come from a burning candle, and water vapor comes from heated water. The lid of the trap is covered with a toxic substance or Velcro. Mosquitoes land on the lid and die on it. Schoolchildren can make such a trap themselves and test its effect in practice.

Diptera expediently respond to weather changes, being living barometers. For example, flies fly into rooms before bad weather, and on the roads - into car cabins. Pusher flies form dancing flocks on warm summer evenings, usually on the eve of good weather. These flocks usually stay in a narrowly limited space (over a puddle, over a path with wet soil, or around a tree branch). Such aggregations in moist air are considered as mating dances performed by dipterans in atmospheric conditions favorable to them. Rainflies become active in cloudy weather before rain. In calm weather, at sunset or sunrise, midge mosquitoes usually form swarms, flying in the crowns of trees or over grass and bushes.

In addition to the organs that signal changes in meteorological conditions, in dipterans the gustoreceptors on the paws of flies deserve attention, with the help of which they determine the quality of food and its edibility. Experiments have shown that flies easily distinguish sweet greed from unsweetened water, and their threshold for distinguishing sweetness is 20 times lower than that of humans. Diptera, like other invertebrates, are able to perceive minor changes in the magnetic field and orient themselves in accordance with the direction of its field lines. There is an opinion according to which periodically changing electromagnetic fields of various frequencies give biological processes an unusual rhythm, distorting normal information processes. From here it is clear that animals are forced to behave in such a way as to avoid negative consequences each time when the magnetic field changes.

Diptera are insects with complete metamorphosis, but with one feature that others do not have, namely: in higher flies, pupae are placed in special false cocoons - puparia, formed from the larval skin with compaction of its shell. Puparia protect pupae from damage, which increases their survival. Their role, therefore, is similar to the real cocoons of butterflies and other insects, created by the interweaving of arachnoid threads (silk-secreting fibers), but by origin the puparia are not homologous, but convergent organs. This is an example of how the same task of protecting the pupa from enemies and unfavorable influences in different groups of insects was resolved by the action of natural selection by different means.

In the reproduction of some dipterans (mosquitoes of the genus Miastor), a rare phenomenon of pedogenesis (reproduction at the larval stage) is observed among insects. In most dipterans, the larvae hatch from eggs and develop in the environment where the eggs were laid. Moreover, in each species, females lay eggs where the future larvae will find themselves, surrounded by their characteristic food. In some dipterans, the survival rate of species is increased due to viviparity (for example, in bloodsucker and tachin flies). Their larvae emerge from the eggs and remain inside the mother’s body, feeding on the secretions of special glands. Having completed development under the protection of the mother’s body, they come out and immediately pupate in the soil or on the animal’s body (depending on the species). In flies living in manure, the larvae are born almost adult, thereby eliminating them from dangerous competition with other inhabitants of the manure.

Success in the struggle for existence is also brought about by caring for the offspring, which manifests itself not only at the egg stage, but also at the larval stage. For example, in gray blowflies, the larvae are thrown out of the female’s body directly onto the substrate that serves as food for them, namely: into ulcers, wounds, on the mucous membrane of the eyes, nostrils and other parts of the animal’s body. Something similar is observed in nasopharyngeal gadflies, the larvae of which are sprayed by the female into the nasal cavity of deer, sheep and other mammals. It should be noted that the highest manifestation of care for offspring is in the green carrion frog-eating fly, in which the female with mature eggs sacrifices herself for the benefit of the future young generation. She crawls around the frog until she is eaten by it. In the stomach of the frog, the fly eggs hatch into larvae that penetrate the intestines, and from there into the host’s nasal cavity, where they complete their development.

Adult forms, having used the nutrients obtained from the larvae, often switch to independent nutrition, usually causing some kind of harm to the human economy. But some dipterans are beneficial (see below about this). Among Diptera there are few forms with bright colors and attractive appearance. Only buzz flies, which feed on the nectar of flowering plants, have a more elegant appearance than others. Green and blue carrion flies have a metallic sheen.

Some species of hoverflies exhibit mimicry. For their resemblance to stinging hymenoptera, these flies received the corresponding names: wasp-shaped hoverfly, bumblebee-shaped bumblebee fly, bee-shaped butterfly, etc. Interestingly, one species of flies was found to imitate wasps in buzzing. They stay among wasps and reproduce the same sounds as wasps. Mimicry flies stick to the same habitats as the insects they imitate. For example, bumblebees visit bumblebee nests, and beebirds are found on inflorescences together with bees. Humpback flies, which resemble ants, live in anthills.

Sexual dimorphism in Diptera is weakly expressed. In flies, for example, sexual dimorphism manifests itself more often in the size of the eyes. In rare cases, the difference between a male and a female is a difference in body color or external structure. So, for example, in the garden midge the male is black and the female is red-brown; in the fly of the genus Platyphora, the male is winged, and the female is wingless, flat, like a cockroach.

Chemical methods of combating harmful dipterans do not always give positive results. Excessively intensive and disorderly use of insecticides leads to the fact that a person artificially eliminates individuals sensitive to the drug used and at the same time promotes the reproduction of individuals resistant to it. This is explained by the presence in the population of dipteran individuals that are immune to the poison of certain substances. The famous entomologist J. Georgiou (USA) provides data on resistance to DDT that exists among Anopheles mosquitoes and house flies, and their immunity acquires a wide spectrum, including various types of insecticides and even analogues of growth hormones, which usually have a fatal effect on insects, causing them to the body has serious dysfunctions. The problem of combating harmful insects, in particular dipterans, is one of the most complex. For its implementation, it requires strict consideration of the relationships that exist in nature.

At the same time, dipterans, being targets of attack from numerous enemies, are an essential link in the food chains of various animals. The enemies of dipterans primarily include insectivorous birds, especially swallows, swifts, nightjars, and among mammals - bats, among insects - dragonflies. In water, mosquito larvae and pupae are eaten by fish, dragonfly larvae, water bugs and beetles, as well as the insectivorous plant bladderwort. In peat bogs, small flies, midges and mosquitoes are caught by other insectivorous plants - sundew and diryanka. It has been established that, for example, a sundew catches up to 17 mosquitoes in 1 hour.

Insect squad. They are known in fossil form from the Late Triassic. A progressive group with a fast pace of evolution. They have only a front pair of wings (hence the name). The hind wings are transformed into flask-shaped organs - halteres, presumably organs of the senses of balance and direction, sometimes reduced in a few wingless forms. The head is rounded, with large compound eyes on the sides. The mouthparts are piercing-sucking or licking. The chest segments are fused together. The abdomen consists of 4-10 visible segments, the last of them are transformed in females into a telescopically retractable ovipositor, in males into a copulatory apparatus, the structure of which is a systematic (species) characteristic. Suborders; long-whiskered (or mosquitoes), short-whiskered (or flies) straight-stitched and short-whiskered round-stitched; The division is based on the structure of the antennae, head, and the characteristics of the hatching of adult individuals from the pupa shell. Over 150 modern families. About 100 thousand species, widely distributed; over 10 thousand species are known in Russia. Most adult Diptera are good flyers; They can float and hover motionless in the air.

Latin name Diptera

The very large order of Diptera includes over 85,000 species of highly organized and specialized insects.

These are insects with only a pair of membranous fore wings. Diptera are the best flyers among insects.

The hind pair of wings is reduced. Its rudiments are transformed into halteres, inside which are placed chordotonal organs, which are very important in the flight of dipterans. The wings are usually widened in the middle part, and strongly narrowed at the very base, sometimes forming a small protrusion - a wing.

Diptera are characterized by a mobile head with very large faceted eyes, a powerful chest, where the mesothorax reaches its greatest development, to which the wings are attached, and small prothorax and metathorax; sessile, sparsely stalked abdomen. The larvae are legless, with or without a head. The pupae are mobile or in a false cocoon - puparia.

Diptera classification

The order Diptera is divided into two suborders: 1. Long-whiskered, or Mosquitoes (Nematocera), which includes mosquitoes and forms close to them; 2. Short-haired flies, or Flies (Brachicera). These suborders differ in a number of characters of adults, larvae and pupae.

The suborder long-whiskered, or mosquitoes (Nematocera), is characterized by long multi-segmented antennae and an elongated abdomen. Larvae with a head and gnawing mouthparts. Pupae are free, often mobile, usually without a cocoon.

This suborder includes various mosquitoes and mosquito-like species: mosquitoes, midges, midges, bloodworms, centipedes, gall midges, etc.

The mosquito family is especially important. Mosquitoes have piercing-sucking mouthparts, with males feeding on flower nectar and females sucking the blood of warm-blooded animals. After bloodsucking, they begin the process of egg maturation, and then oviposition.

Of the blood-sucking mosquitoes, the most numerous are mosquitoes of the genus Aedes, which cause the greatest disturbance in summer, especially in the forest. Among the malaria mosquitoes, the common malaria mosquito (Anopheles maculipennis) is widespread. Mosquitoes of the genus Culex practically do not attack humans. The exception is the urban mosquito population, Culex pipiens molestus, which breeds in warm basements all year round.

Anopheles females, starting at sunset and throughout the night, fly into living quarters, where they most often attack people. During the day, malaria mosquitoes are not active; they sit in dark rooms or in natural shelters. Female mosquitoes, like males, suck nectar from flowers. Bloodsuckers need additional carbohydrate nutrition. Mosquitoes lay eggs in water, especially in stagnant bodies of water, where larvae that breathe atmospheric air develop. During the summer there are from 2 to 5 generations of the malaria mosquito, depending on the latitude of the place. For the central forest zone of Russia, 2-3 generations are common, of which one overwinters. The lifespan of males is several days, females (summer) - up to two months. For the winter, female malaria mosquitoes climb into basements, cellars, attics, livestock premises, etc.

The biology of malaria mosquitoes and their larvae also determines methods of combating them as malaria carriers. Adult mosquitoes are destroyed in their daytime and wintering areas. The most effective control against mosquito larvae. It boils down to the following: 1) draining the area and destroying small bodies of water suitable for breeding mosquitoes; 2) destruction of larvae by treating reservoirs with persistent insecticides (hexachlorane, landrin, karbofos, etc.), used in the form of dusts, suspensions and granular preparations. To treat swampy areas and large bodies of water, pollination from specially equipped aircraft is used, which gives the most effective results.

Not all mosquitoes are blood-sucking mosquitoes that cause some kind of harm. Harmless mosquitoes include the feathery mosquito (Chaoborus). Transparent larvae of this mosquito are common in our reservoirs.

Bloodworms, or ringing mosquitoes (family Chironomidae), are very useful. On summer evenings these mosquitoes can be seen swarming in one place in the air. The larvae of various types of bloodworms often inhabit the muddy bottom of water bodies in large numbers. The most common are large red bloodworm larvae (Chironomus plumosus). They are interesting because of the presence of hemoglobin in their hemolymph. Chironomus larvae are an essential part of fish food in pond farms; they are specially caught to feed fish in aquariums.

Mosquitoes are tiny insects (2-2.5 mm long) and are a group closely related to mosquitoes. Here they are common in Crimea, the Caucasus and Central Asia. Mosquito larvae live in moist, organic-rich areas. Mosquitoes get into homes and cause painful bites. Phlebotomus papatasii, a common mosquito in our Crimea, transmits papatachi fever. This fever passes quickly and does not recur, but is very debilitating, despite the short duration of the disease (two to three days).

Mosquitoes are also carriers of Leishmania.

Diptera Flies

The suborder of short-whiskered flies, or flies (Brachicera), differs from long-whiskered flies by short, usually three-segmented antennae, a wide, mostly ovoid abdomen, and oral limbs of a licking or piercing type. Their larvae are headless or have a retractable head armed with hooks (modified mandibles). The pupa is often in a false cocoon or without it.

The common housefly (Musca domestica) is of great importance since it often appears in large numbers and plays the role of a mechanical carrier of pathogens of various diseases (typhoid fever, dysentery, etc.). The housefly is quite prolific. The female lays 130-150 eggs per clutch, and up to 600 eggs throughout her life. She lays eggs in various decaying substances (in garbage dumps, landfills, etc.), in manure and human feces.

Similar to a housefly, but slightly larger and less mobile, the housefly (Muscina stabulans). The body length of the housefly is 6-8 mm, the housefly is 9 mm. Smaller flies often fly into rooms, usually hovering under a lamp or near the ceiling. This is a small housefly (Fannia canicularis) (body length 5-6 mm), it also lays eggs in human manure and feces. All fecal flies can participate in the transmission of pathogens of intestinal infections and transmit worm eggs. The transfer of bacterial infection occurs through the licking proboscis and sticky pads on the paws. In addition, pathogenic bacteria are usually not digested in the fly's intestines and end up on food products with its feces.

They say that in the fall flies become “angry” and bite painfully. However, none of the flies mentioned sting. At the end of summer and early autumn, the firebird (Stomoxys calcitrans) often flies into rooms. She has a hard proboscis with piercing bristles. It pierces the skin and sucks blood, attacking mainly domestic animals.

In human habitation, large blue blowflies (Calliphora erythrocephala) and green carrion flies (Lucilia caesar) - small green flies, only 3 mm in length, colored blue with a metallic sheen, flying with a strong buzz - are often found. They lay eggs on animal carcasses, on discarded or uncovered meat, etc.

Finally, the large, gray and black blowfly (Sarcophaga carnaria) is common, remarkable in that the eggs of this fly develop in the body of the female and she gives birth to larvae that have already hatched from the eggs (viviparity).

Closely related to houseflies is the tsetse fly (Glossina palpalis), which is found in Africa and transmits sleeping sickness.

The damage caused by flies is not limited to the spread of pathogens of infectious diseases. Among flies there are species that are very serious pests of agricultural crops. An example is the cabbage fly (Hylemyia brassicae), which lays eggs in cabbage seedlings; Its larvae eat cabbage roots. This is one of the most dangerous garden pests. Other types of flies cause damage to cereals (cereal flies).

Also worthy of mention is a very large group of flies belonging to the family of hoverflies, or flower flies. They can usually be seen in large numbers flying near flowers and landing on them. Many of them are excellent examples of mimicry in shape and color, and for some the model is a bee (bee fly), for others - small wasps or bumblebees. Of the flower flies, the genus sirf flies is remarkable in that their predatory larvae live on plant leaves and eat aphids. Among hoverflies there are, however, also agricultural pests, for example the onion hoverfly (Eumerus strigatus).

The fly is the most familiar and most annoying insect for us, which attacks our homes in the warm season. This usually lasts from spring until late autumn. We are accustomed to seeing ordinary house flies and green flies, which we associate with dirt and infectious diseases. But in fact, we know very little about these insects. There are about 75 thousand different species of flies in the world, among which there are both those that bite and carry infection, and completely harmless creatures.

Many of us have only a negative image of a fly. As a rule, we associate it with a buzzing sound that gets on our nerves and unsanitary conditions. But it turns out that the fly is an integral element of the biosphere, without which our planet could not fully exist. Many animals feed on adult flies and their larvae. Some types of flies pollinate plants, while others participate in the process of decomposition of plant waste and eat caterpillars and bugs. If it were not for flies, our planet would have long been littered with various plant debris.

What kind of insect is this?

A fly is a two-winged insect belonging to the phylum Arthropods, order Flies and. The insect's body length varies from a few millimeters to 2 cm, depending on the species.

The lifespan of flies is 1–2.5 months. One of the most important distinguishing features of the fly is its huge eyes, which consist of several thousand hexagonal lenses. Thanks to this structure of the eyes, the fly has very good vision and is able to see even what is happening from the side and behind, that is, it practically has a circular field of vision.

The fly belonging to this species practically no longer lives in the wild. Therefore, she is the most annoying and impudent guest in our homes in the summer-autumn period. At this time, our life is complicated by the constant struggle with these small, but very fast and resourceful insects.

House flies are most active during the daytime. The homeland of this insect is the steppe of Central Asia. But at the moment, its distribution is observed everywhere near human homes - both in rural areas and in cities.

A fly of this species is not a biting or blood-sucking insect, but nevertheless it causes significant harm to humans. Its limbs have tentacles on which various harmful bacteria and dirt accumulate, leading to infectious diseases.

The housefly's body is gray with brown tints. It consists of the abdomen, head and chest. The chest is connected to wings and three pairs of legs. On the head there are very large eyes, occupying almost the entire head, an oral cavity and short antennae. The upper part of the breast has four dark stripes, the belly has black spots in the form of quadrangles. The lower half of the head is yellow. The total body length of the fly usually does not exceed 8 mm. Males by size There are fewer females.

The female has a wider frontal part of the head, and the distance between the eyes is greater than that of the male. The flight of a fly is carried out only with the help of two front membranous transparent wings, and the hind wings (haleteres) are necessary only to maintain balance.

In appearance, many types of flies are similar to the house fly, but its distinctive feature is the vein that forms a break in front of the edge of the wing. The limbs of the housefly are thin and long with suction cups for convenient movement on various surfaces. These suction cups allow her to move freely even on a vertical glass plane and on the ceiling. The fly's flight speed is very high, and it can last for several hours.

Nutrition

Despite the small antennae, the housefly has a keen sense of smell. She can smell the smell of food over long distances.