Many people refer to different species of gulls as just Seagulls, which is rather like referring to all the different bird species as just birds.
Likewise, many people refer to different species of flies as Blowflies or Houseflies - but I like to know exactly what I'm seeing.
Its a childlike fascination I suppose. Nothing more.
Flies (yes, I know - mostly they are horrible...) can be beautiful, and can be relatively interesting - even the more commonly encountered species.
Below is a picture of a Flesh fly I took recently - easily recognised by its striped thorax and chess-board abdomen.
It feeds on decaying meat (as its name would suggest), but I suppose the most interesting thing about the (large) Flesh Fly is that it is VIVIPAROUS. (It gives birth to 'live young' - in this case larvae, rather than lays eggs).
The second fly I'd like to bring your attention to is the Greenbottle Blow Fly. Yep, it is everywhere, but unlike the Flesh Fly (and its cousin, the Bluebottle for that matter) will rarely enter houses. It is a spectacular fly though, all things considered, with a metallic green body, red eyes and silvery jowels - very distinctive of the Greenbottle amongst all the various types of Green Blowflies.
Don't write off all flies as horrible, annoying, buzzing pests.
Not just yet, anyway.
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