Most blow flies live in temperate to tropical regions.
The larvae of blow flies are used for a medical treatment called “maggot therapy”. Maggot debridement therapy (MDT) uses laboratory raised fly larvae to treat stasis ulcers, postsurgical wounds, pressure clots, and diabetic foot wounds. The larvae eat only the dead tissue, which improves the healing potential of the remaining tissue.
This is a photograph of a blow fly eye. There are ~1,100 species of blow flies. Most live in temperate to tropical regions. This photo was taken in Big Cypress National Preserve in Florida. These flies like a damp environment and they are even attracted to strong rotting odors. There are two flowers (American pawpaw and dead horse arum) that give off a fowl odor, which the blow flies are fond of. These flies are commonly found hanging out on dung and animal carcasses. The blow fly’s predators include birds, frogs, beetles, and spiders.
This is a wild looking fly! Their blood-red compound eyes are amazing to get a close look at. The blow fly’s abdomen and thorax look like medieval armor, but with a blue-green sheen. The name of this fly is derived from an old English term. If meat was found to have eggs laid on it, it was said to be “fly blown”. So, what do blow fly eggs look like? Simply put, they look like grains of rice. Eggs are typically white or yellowish in color. The female blow fly will usually lay around 200 eggs per cycle. These female blow flies will typically lay around 2,000 eggs in their lifetime.
Since this month is all about “Eyes”, lets talk about the blow fly eye. They have compound eyes, unlike us humans who have a single large lens eyeball. Blow fly eyes can be made up of thousands of ommatidia, which are independent micro photoreception units. That sounds complicated, but you can think of it like an eye comprised of thousands of eyes. Each ommatidia has a cornea, lens, and cells that can process light. Each of these ommatidia are angled in slightly different positions, giving blow flies a wide viewing angle.
Blow flies have compound eyes!
Did You Know?
Blow flies are also used in forensics. Their larvae are used to estimate the time of death for an individual. Blow flies have an amazing ability to smell up to a mile away, so they are typically first on scene. When they arrive, the females lay eggs. Since we know so much about the development of these fly larvae, as long as we know the ambient temperature, it is also possible to find out the time of death.
Blow flies are pollinators!
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[…] of each other. Each eye contains thousands of ommatidia. Check out the Blow Fly story this month to learn more about ommatidia. Not only can mantis shrimp see well from […]