The importance of flies

To begin to explain c hat is the role of the fly in the ecosystem in which they live, they really do a great variety of ecosystems, first know a little better talking about the taxonomy of the housefly , which is known as a house fly.

• Kingdom: Metazoa
• Subkingdom: Eumetazoa
• Branch: Bilateria
• Grade: Coelomata
• Series: Protostomy
• Phylum: Arthropoda
• Subphylum: Mandibulata
• Class: Insecta
• Subclass: Holometabola
• Order: Diptera
• Suborder: Brachycera
• Infraorder: Muscomorpha
• Superfamily: Muscoidea
• Family: Muscidae
• Subfamily: Muscinae
• Genus: Musca
• Species: domestica

If you’ve ever managed to catch one or see it up close, you may have noticed that their eyes are made up of thousands of individually light-sensitive facets that allow them to fly away from danger.

The fly is part of the phylum or phylum of arthropods or Arthropoda , whose limbs are articulated, in this case three times, which allows them to rub their mouth and eyes in that characteristic way. In the same way, its body is divided into three different parts or ‘tagmas’: head, thorax and abdomen.

In addition, as a curiosity you will like to know that it is one of the insects that do not have antennas, but do have two so-called wings. Their mouth can only suck, lick, or pierce, but cannot bite or chew. However, some species can sting. In Spain alone there are more than 50,000 identified species, which suggests that in total there are an uncountable number of fly species throughout the world .

Flies are normally short-lived , but very active. Between March and September these insects reproduce by the millions. During the rest of the year they do not disappear nor do they hibernate, they simply slow down their life cycles waiting for the high temperatures to return and do their own thing.

In most species, the maturity of the fly lasts from 15 to 25 days , and even in totally optimal conditions it can live up to 60 days. During this time is when they can fly, feed and reproduce, since it is their mature or adult stage. This means that, prior to this stage, they have had more life, but as eggs, larvae or other stages depending on the species.

What is the importance of flies in the ecosystem? Well, in summary, flies are pollinating insects, decomposers of organic matter, control pests and serve as food for insectivorous animals.

Explaining it in more detail, we can say that although it seems that it does nothing, other than fly and sneak through our windows, flies are beneficial to all of us due to their pollination work and the possibility of using these animals to control pests , something that we provides great benefits. Not forgetting that Mendel, father of genetics, used the rapid life cycle of these insects to demonstrate his important theories that have revolutionized the field of science.

Next, we explain each of these aspects that make the importance of flies for the environment in general, each ecosystem in which they live and for us directly, something really vital.

One of the main functions of flies in the ecosystem is pollination. Like other insects, such as bees , flies when flying are a means of transport for the pollen of various vegetables, which sticks to their legs and other parts of the body when landing on flowers and is released as they fly or perch. over other flowers. This results in the pollination of a large number of plant species .

However, by not feeding directly on it, other animals such as bees actually exercise this work in a more relevant way.

Within the trophic relationships of ecosystems , that is to say what we can simply call the food chain, flies play a role as decomposing or recyclers of organic matter .

This means that flies, mainly in their larval stage, are saprophagous animals, so their nutrition depends on the residues of other organisms or living beings, whether they are plant or animal residues. For example, the larvae of flies feed on the corpses of deceased animals, the remains of dead leaves or feces, that is, they are ghouls and dungs.

In addition, in this food chain in which they also serve as food for other beings, as we will explain later, they also have another vital function for natural balance, although we can identify it as a detrimental function for other beings, like us, and beneficial for others. We talk about flies being vectors or transport of microorganisms , that is, they spread parasites and diseases to other animals, such as humans, dogs, lions, horses, and so on.

Some Diptera, such as flies, regulate animal populations that are detrimental to some plants and some animals, including humans. For example, they serve to control pests in crops , so some species of flies can help combat pests of mites, aphids, bed bugs, etc.

However, there are also species of flies that, depending on what conditions they are in, become pests.

Insectivorous animals eat insects, as their name suggests. The large number of flies and other dipterans in the world is one of the main sources of food for this type of animal.

There are countless animal and plant species that eat insects such as flies. Thus, from carnivorous plants to birds, reptiles, other insects, arachnids, amphibians, aquatic animals of all kinds, among others, they are species that feed on flies. Therefore, flies are part of the food chain in both directions, being an important food source, which gives them more importance in the ecological balance of the planet.

This is an aspect totally related to humans and our advancement in science, health and even other fields such as technology. It is true that flies are used in scientific studies and, in fact, they have always been one of the most studied animals and used for new discoveries. They have mostly been used in genetic, physiological and biochemical studies.