Flies

There are many insects that can fly and many of these species are wrongly called flies. These include caddis flies, dragonflies, damselflies, (darters and hawkers), mayflies and lacewings.

True flies are also called ‘diptera’ flies. Diptera comes from the Latin word meaning two wings. True flies have only one pair of wings. All other insects have either no wings at all or two pairs of wings. Instead of the second pair of wings, true flies possess a pair of curious little knobs mounted on slender stalks located just behind the wings. These odd structures are called 'halteres' or 'balancers'. Also all true flies possess another characteristic which are large eyes and sometimes these large eyes can occupy most of the head.

In England we have an enormous amount of true fly species. Most experts estimate the number of different species of true fly to be significantly above 5000. True flies include houseflies, craneflies, and mosquitoes, midges and gnats.

True flies include the Common House Fly which is one of the most widely distributed animals on earth. These flies have a rounded body and very short antennae. Other true flies include the Common Mosquito, the Buzzer Midge and the Common Gnat.