COMMONEUROPEANGREENBOTTLE FLY

TRUE FLIES ARE FASCINATING AND VARIED.

Adult true flies feed on liquids and oozy slime,

and have either thin sucking mouthparts

(like mosquitos) or sponging mouthparts:

a tube with a wider sponge at the end (like

house flies). Some flies "spit" onto dry food

and then suck up the spit. Other female flies

drink vertebrate blood to get the protein they

need for their eggs. More rarely, a few adult

flies are predators, seizing other insects and

stabbing them with their mouthparts to suck

out their blood and organs.

This particular photo is of a member

of the Calliphoridae family, or blow flies (AKA

blue bottles or green bottles), of which there

are about 40 species here. It is COMMON

EUROPEAN

GREEN

BOTTLE

FLY

(Lucilia sericata)