‘Everybody loves to fly: but no one loves the fly’*

It’s true. Flies on the chopping board? Swat it now. Fruit flies crawling over the fruit bowl? Sluice them under the tap. Horse flies? Aaagh.

And yet we need them, those flies. Their larvae clean up after us – all that poo, all those dead bodies. The adults pollinate for us. They’re part of the cycle of life that we depend on.

I have not a single photo. Not one. So I’ve gone to Unsplash, a free-to-use stock photo site that I use a lot and recommend to you. Denzil’s Nature Photo Challenge is meant to be an opportunity for us to showcase our own images. But this time, I’ll showcase the works of others. They really make the case for a fly being a thing of beauty, as well as of use.

The photographers haven’t named their flies, so I’ve had to try. Corrections welcomed. We’ll start with the house fly:

Tobias Roth. The featured photo, also of a house fly, is by a Spaniard, Josep Plans.

Next, a sarcophaga, a flesh fly. I guess the clue is in the name.

Ranjith Alingal.

And finally, a green bottle fly.

Luca
  • Pall Maroof
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Author: margaret21

I'm retired and live in North Yorkshire, where I walk , write, volunteer and travel as often as I can.

58 thoughts on “‘Everybody loves to fly: but no one loves the fly’*”

    1. Will do – thanks. I think you we to be selective in our ‘horrible’, Jo. Many of them live blameless lives in the wild and we rarely notice them at all. Houseflies are hard to love, and bluebottles. But maye we gotta try.

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  4. We have a fly screen so we can open the conservatory door, keeps most of them out, but obviously being close to livestock there will be flies. Great photos given they rarely stay still. Like Jo I’m not fond of flies or ants, especially when they invade my home.

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  12. Do you follow Stephen Gingold? He has some great buggy photos. It’s posts like these which make me realise I shouldn’t just be looking at the ones who flaunt it like the butterflies.

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  15. Oh Margaret – you do send me into rabbit holes!!! I remember visiting my grandparents farm and carrying a fly swatter with me to keep the flies away. But then, you prompted me today to see if there are any benefits to flies. I found out there are many benefits, which I never considered: Flies play a crucial role in pollination, helping to transfer pollen between plants and ensuring the reproduction of many plant species. They serve as decomposers, breaking down organic matter and recycling nutrients back into the ecosystem. They serve as a food source for many animals, including birds, bats, and other insects. Flies may be considered small and often annoying, but their ecological and scientific significance is real. Thanks again for the prompt.

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  17. I can’t stand flies in the bedroom that settle on your face or arms in the early morning and I loathe flies in the kitchen. We have fly screens which keep them out of the house and that also means we can have the windows open on warm nights and not be invaded by moths, midges and craneflies. I have been trying to learn more about insects and photograph them whenever I can. Some are really beautiful aren’t they? Thank you for this post, Margaret.

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  19. Oh wow, spectacular photos! On my favourite podcast, The Infinite Monkey Cage, they have had quite a lot of episodes about animals. And when you start to learn about them, even wasps and spiders are just unbelievably amazing (I still prefer not to have them in my home…).

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  20. All I can think of when I see your photos is Jeff Goldbloom and the pesky dead fly caracasses we find in our lake home after being gone a while. But flies are an important part of the ecosystem, every part pretty or ugly, or important to the chain. Stay well and enjoy August and the waning days of summer. Peace.

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  22. Pingback: Your photos of flies – Denzil Nature

  23. You’ve picked some great shots for our attention. I have no ‘deliberate’ pictures of them either, although they do photobomb flowers. I think badly of myself whenever I try to swat flies that get in the house and refuse to leave. I generally try to tickle them out with a feather duster first and can sometimes trap them in a glass if they are sleepy.

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