 |
complete
metamorphosis |
|
wings - 1
pair
(click to expand/collapse)
 |
forewings are membranous
|
|
hind wings are “small clubs” called halteres
(used to stabilize flight – able to hover) |
|
|
mouth types
are: piercing (mosquitoes), stabbing & lapping (deer flies),
sponging (house fly) |
|
larvae are
usually legless and are called maggots
|
|
great opportunists
and eat a great variety of food:
(click to expand/collapse)
|
decaying
plant/animal material (good for recycling) |
|
dung (yuck)
|
|
living plants
(compete for our food and tree products) |
|
blood
(bastards) |
|
and even other
flies (good) |
|
|
Flies and
mosquitoes have had an enormous impact on humankind
(click to expand/collapse)
|
many diseases are vectored by
dipterans
|
|
e.g. mosquito-borne diseases affect ~700,000 million people per year
(300-500 million are malaria)
|
|
~2.5 million
people die each year from malaria (= greater Vancouver)
|
|
in each major
war, more people have died from insect-borne disease than bombs & bullets
|
|
