FLIES – DIPTERA
I swear I spent my lifetime thinking that flies are all the same. They were “flies.” They needed to be swatted or attracted to “fly paper” and in general, just destroyed. They were not supposed to be around us and if they were, they were uninvited guests that needed to be exterminated. But then I started to really take a look at flies. They are not all the same when you look closely at them with a macro lens. I was astounded when I started to catalogue all of the different types of “flies” I was finding. I was taught as a child that a fly is to be killed. No questions asked. Just kill it. Get it out of here. It is not welcome. But that directive is so misguided. So misguided that we don’t realize they are also much needed pollinators. Like bees. We humans have so much to learn. . .
Click on an image to enlarge.
