Bearblog carnival: my favorite fly based on looks and vibe.
It's bearblog carnival and I can tell you about my favorite flies. As I told before I've really been into dipterology lately, i. e. the study of flies, mosquitoes and midges. I can't pick only one because in France, we have over 8000 species of dipterans for now. I can pick a couple to show you the sheer diversity of flies. I'd love it if this post inspire you to slow down and look really close at out tiny friends.
The drain fly
Clogmia albipunctata is part of the family Psychodidae, the drain flies. These gnats are absolutely infuriating when the occur at your house. They are tiny, they lay their eggs in your drains to allow baby larvae to feed at the gunk inside your sink pipes. Give them the right conditions of food and humidity and they will thrive... now you have dozens of them flying around in your kitchen. I discovered them when I worked at a biology lab; tiny little cubicles with many sinks everywhere? Heaven for them. Tired of cleaning and sanitizing after these little creatures, I once stopped and looked real close: I discovered a furry round friend with pointy wings, nice little pattern and a real cute face. Here, look at this nice picture by user markop on Diptera.info! Clogmia albipunctata was the first insect I collected and examined under a microscope. A year leater, I've completed my 1000th observation of flies, I'm hooked.
The fruit fly
Drosophila melanogaster is a five-star model for genetic research owing to its rapid life cycle, large number of offspring and simple genetic material. This fruit fly has bold red eyes, striped abdomen, shiny wings: she's a queen. Head over to this Wikipedia article and you'll be able to learn that Drosophila melanogaster was the first animal launched into space. Scroll down a little bit, discover an audio file of D. melanogaster's heartbeat. Travel to this article and watch an image of D. melanogaster's uterus and ovaries. A scientist's best friend.
The gay fruit fly
In the Drosophilidae family, Drosophila hydei is my favorite for her looks. Used as food for pet reptiles, she wears a leopard patterned jacket on her thorax and head and a striped abdomen: she's a fashion icon. My favorite shot is this picture by Winsten Slowswakey.
The rain fly
How could I make an article about beautiful everyday flies without telling you about Anthomyia pluvialis. She's a really common fly in the North hemisphere. Associated with wetlands, she's the one flying around puddles, dung and carrion in your hikes. You thought it was a boring black fly, wait until you get on your knees and look at them really close: she's actually white with black spots on her back. A dalmatian fly, as you may say. Look at her!
Two rectifications about our rain fly
- Actually, as a true fly nerd, I must add two (2) pieces of information:
- There is no such thing as a boring black fly. (!!)
- You may confuse our dalmatian fly Anthomyia pluvualis with her sister, Anthomyia quinquemaculata. They look exactly the same, except one of them has shorter leg hair. Yep.
Thank you Kami for this opportunity to talk about my passion. I hope at least of you will realize how wonderful our insects are. I tried to keep this post about common species who can easily be seen, at least in Europe and in the US. OK then, have fun!
<3 I'd love to read you thougts, send me an email! <3