Flies are insects belonging to the order Diptera, characterized by having a single pair of wings and typically compound eyes. There are over 120,000 species of flies, including common houseflies, fruit flies, and mosquitoes. They play various roles in ecosystems, such as pollinators, decomposers, and as a food source for other animals. However, flies can also be pests, as they are known to spread diseases like typhoid, cholera, and dysentery by contaminating food and surfaces with pathogens. Fruit flies, in particular, are widely used in genetic research due to their short life cycle and genetic similarities to humans. Despite their small size, flies have a significant impact on both natural environments and human health.
The suitability of habitats for these medically relevant insects has been modeled across four federal states. At just six millimeters long, black flies (Simuliidae) might…
Imagine using insects to extract chemicals for creating biodegradable plastics, which later can be decomposed by those very bugs. This idea is not as far-fetched…
High levels of ozone destroy the chemical mating signal of the insects and may thus contribute to global insect decline. Insect sexual communication relies to…
A Digital Twin of Drosophila “We used two kinds of data to build NeuroMechFly,” says Professor Pavan Ramdya at the School of Life Sciences at…
Immersive virtual reality and real-time brain activity imaging showcase Drosophila’s capabilities of attention, working memory, and awareness. As they annoyingly buzz around a batch of…
Imagine you’re at a picnic and just about to bite into your sandwich. Suddenly you spot a fly headed your way, homing in on your…
The sound of an accelerating heartbeat can instantly send chills down your spine. You know that sound means trouble. We are so accustomed to the…
Killer flies can reach accelerations of over 3g when aerial diving to catch their prey — but at such high speeds they often miss because…
In search of food, a fly can travel six million times its body length. In 2005, an ultramarathon runner ran continuously 560 kilometers (350 miles)…
Most insects can fly. Yet scores of species have lost that extraordinary ability, particularly on islands. On the small islands that lie halfway between Antarctica and…
Mechanical engineering researchers gain biological insights that could enhance robotics. By examining how fruit flies use eye movements to enhance flight control with a staggeringly…
Researchers at the Universities of Abuja and Nigeria, in collaboration with the University of Bristol, have detected a potentially human-infective microbe in pet dogs in…
It’s been reported that the common fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, drinks alcohol to kill the wasps that have hatched inside of its body, which would…