Flies. They are everywhere, I’ve been around the world and I think they are on nearly every inch of space outside. I’m sunbathing on the terrace of my villa here in Sharm el Sheikh Egypt being annoyed by flies and trying to think something positive about flies. Do they serve ANY purpose? So as you may know I like to learn something new every day and from everyone I meet and of course share what I learn with everyone.
We all have the most incredible teacher in our pocket, our phone. So i googled ‘Do flies have a purpose’ and I’m embarrased to say I didn’t know they did. Here is the first thing that came up in a millisecond on Google. “When flies land on a series of plants to feed on nectar, they spread the pollen between flowers and help fertilise the next generation of plants. As pollinators, flies perform a valuable role in the ecological community for our native plants, and are also helping farmers” Digging a bit further I found flies are one of the most diverse insect orders, with more than 150,000 species described worldwide in more than 150 different insect families.
In Australia, entomologists (scientists who study insects) estimate there are more than 30,000 species of fly, and yet only 7,700 species have been described. There are two main types of fly: the Nematocera (which includes mosquitoes and non- biting crane flies) and the Brachycera (which includes house flies, fruit flies, and horse flies). In Australia, there is only one type of fly that’s attracted to us, rather than our blood: the bush fly (Musca vetustissima, Diptera: Muscidae), which is a non- biting fly and close relative of the house fly (Musca domestica). These flies are after theproteins, carbohydrates, salts, and sugars naturally present on your skin.All the other flies around you are probably after your blood, and that includes mosquitoes and horse flies. And yes, unfortunately some people are more attractive to mosquitoes than others.
Although mosquitoes and other blood-feeding insects are attracted to the carbon dioxide we exhale, we know the insect sensory system also helps find exposed skin. Since the skin near our faces is often exposed, that’s one reason flies are always buzzing around your face and hands. So as the Professor of Positivity, Practically and Possibly the most Positive Person on the Planet I found the positive side of these annoying insects. Before the search for a positive side to flies I found only this one aspect – I recently bought a battery operated fly swatter, swatting a fly electrocutes them with a loud ZAP and it is quite entertaining, zapping them brought a smile on my face and that is very positive. While I don’t think killing any creature should happen I think most will agree killing flies is OK.
I hope you learned something here and maybe this blog put a smile on your face as that’s my goal with these blogs, my podcasts, radio show, YouTube channel and speeches in promoting the Be Fantastic movement.
What you want to be, you
