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House Fly
Unidentified Muscidae
15.4557, 119.921
Field Notes
Description:
Diptera; Muscidae Latreille,1802. Unidentified Muscidae. I previously reached a point where I had found out that flies which regurgitate digestive fluids onto any solid food they want to eat fall into two families Calliforidae and Muscidae. Since all Muscidae have bristles and my specimens appear to be without, I must go with Unidentified Muscidae until I can find some further identifying infoormation
Habitat:
These 3 Flies were spotted in our front yard. They were sitting on the topmost leaves of the tallest stem of a Dragon Plant (Dracaena marginata). I would never have seen them from the ground, but I was up on a stepladder trying to get a picture of a Banana plant when they caught my eye. I had no idea what they were, other than 3 insects on 3 separate leaves. I was intrigued and moved the ladder to get some photos of them.
Notes:
I have now found the answer to the liquid droplets on the flies in my pictures. "House flies have sponge-like mouthparts, which are good for soaking up liquefied substances but not for eating solid foods. So, the house fly either seeks out food that is already in puddle form, or it finds a way to turn the food source into something it can manage. This is where things get kind of gross. When a house fly locates something tasty but solid, it regurgitates onto the food (which may be your food, if it's buzzing around your barbecue). The fly vomit contains digestive enzymes that go to work on the desired snack, quickly predigesting and liquefying it so the fly can lap it up." https://www.thoughtco.com/fascinating-facts-about-house-flies-4046014 . Now I realize that everybody out there probably knew what the droplets were and if you didn't know before, you do now. As for myself I think I was happier when I didn't know.
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