2019 The Year of the Fly

Fly photos courtesy of Donna Rainey

“Blue bottles (Calliphora vomitoria) and green bottles (Lucilia ceasar) lay eggs that hatch into maggots.

Apart from being useful for fishing, they spread dirt and disease and should be kept away from food

if at all possible. [The flies] are attracted to rotting meat, household rubbish, and excrement in any form.

There really isn’t anything pleasant to say about them.”

G. Iggulden and H. Iggulden, The Dangerous Book for Boys

“Although we tend to abhor such an appetite, maggots are valuable

because they break down and recycle carrion so effectively.

In fact, without their services, we humans could not smell the roses for the stench of decaying matter.”

Joanne Lauck, The VOICE of the INFINITE IN THE SMALL

The Fly: Scavenger, Pollinator, and Healer

Blue bottle fly (above*) plays the critical role of scavenger. Both adults and maggots feed on decaying meat and feces. Flies are also pollinators who prefer strong odors and pollinate plants such as skunk cabbage and goldenrod.

As parasites, maggots can infest the body through open wounds or unbroken skin, where they then feed on the tissues. This parasitic infestation, myiasis, can require medical attention. Maggots have also long been used to clean out necrotic wounds.

Joanne Elizabeth Lauck covers more on the importance and cultural significance of flies in two chapters of The Voice of the Infinite in the Small.

2019 Year of the Fly

2019 was formally designated international "Year of the Fly" at the 9th International Congress of Dipterology (the study of flies) in Windhoek, Namibia November 2018 when it was decided that flies had been neglected long enough. In celebration of flies and their role in community, the Year of the Fly is a chance to learn all about flies.

Flies, often seen as plain nuisances, can be important scavengers, pollinators, and healers. Hover flies (right*) emerge early spring. So, they are critical pollinators for early-flowering plants.

Please visit YearOfTheFly.org to learn more about flies direct from fly specialists and/or submit an event. Also see Dr. Erica McAlister ( @flygirlNHM ), President of the Amateur Entomologists’ Society and author of The Secret Life of Flies.

“The good news is that it is not too late; few insects have gone extinct so far,

and populations can rapidly recover.”

Dave Goulson, Insect declines and why they matter, pdf

It is not too late for insects

Research suggests that insect abundance has decreased by more than 50% since 1970. Entomologists warn of systemic collapse should humans fail to help reverse the trend because insects play such critical roles in community. The good news is that many humans are prioritizing the needs of insects and there are many options for participation.

As with humans and all, insects have basic requirements that include proper shelter and nourishment. Humans can help by mowing less or not at all, ensuring healthy aquatic systems and keeping old growth forest, regenerating forest, reducing artificial light, and cultivating pesticide-free urban food forests and gardens. Humans are extremely influential members of ecological communities and can co-exist peacefully enough.

For more on helping flies and other pollinators, please see Xerces Society and Pollinator Partnership. Also follow ‘The Great Insect Dying: How to save insects and ourselves’ at Mongabay.

Humans can also foster generative—living—memorials to provide insects with shelter and food as we repent. We—humans and insects—can turn toward one another. For an example, please see Kan’ei-ji Temple Monument to Insects, commissioned by Sessai Matsuyama for all crickets, flies, and grasshoppers killed in the writing of an anatomical study of insects (Chuchi-jo), which Matsuyama had sanctioned.

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