Blue bottle fly

The Blue Bottle Fly is a true fly from the order Diptera. These flies are characterized by their unique blue color and are known to eat dead and decaying matter. The name of the Blue Bottle Fly comes from the term “bot” which is an old term for maggot. The Blue Bottle Fly may seem unimportant but is actually really useful. First of all, they are of medical importance with their ability to transmit diseases. Secondly, they are capable of pollinating plants and serve as the main pollinators for some plants. Blue Bottle Flies are one of the 16,000 species in Order Diptera. They were created very uniquely by God.

Body Design
The unique metallic blue abdomen distinguishes the Blue bottle Fly, making it one of the easiest flies to notice. These interesting species were created with care. They consist of a head, thorax and abdomen. The Head and the thorax consist of a dull gay and the abdomen a gleaming bright blue. On their head, they have black antennae and large red compound eyes. The Blue Bottle flies legs are also black with little hairs covering them. Their wings are clear with the exception of light brown veins. The Blue Bottle fly is covered in an exoskeleton with tiny hairs poking through. The hairs on the fly’s legs, mouth and body are sensory receptors for taste and smell. The exoskeleton is made up of three parts, the outer cuticle, the epidermis and the basement membrane. The cuticle is accompanied by the sensory bristles and hairs. 

Life Cycle
The life cycle of the Blue Bottle Fly is common among other bottle flies. Blue Bottles reproduce sexually. Their life cycle pertains of an egg, larva, pupa and adult. The first stage is the egg. The Blue Bottle Fly egg has the appearance of a slim, light yellow or pale gray, grain of rice. The female fly will lay up to 180 eggs on suitable food materials such as a carcass or rotting flesh. In two or three days, the fly eggs will hatch. The larva has the appearance of the common house fly larva. A white or yellowish worm or caterpillar looking animal now takes the stage. The blue bottle fly larva is called a maggot. The main purpose of the maggot is to feed and grow. This stage lasts approximately 2 to 10 days. After this, the maggot will find a dry safe spot to pupate. Then a hardy cocoon is formed around the larva, changing the pupa into an adult. The pupa will take an unusually long time in its cocoon. It takes about 2 weeks to emerge. The now adult Blue Bottle Fly is 1/4-inch to 3/8-inches in size. It looks similar to the average housefly but is distinguished by its bright metallic blue color. Within 2 weeks, the new adult will be sexually mature and the process will repeat.

Ecology
The Blue bottle fly plays an important role in the world's ecosystem. For example, blue bottle flies are pollinators. Most will eat carrion but some will feed on pollen and nectar. They pollinate the same way as [honey bee]s, traveling from flower to flower and picking up grains of pollen on their bristly legs and transporting it to the next flower Another factor is that Blue Bottle larvae is predacious. That means it will eat other flies' larvae. The Blue Bottle Fly is also eats decaying matter, such as animal corpses (even human corpses and feces, but mainly animals) and animal feces. These flies are very useful to forensic scientists in investigations. Because they lay their eggs on dead and decaying matter, forensic scientists will use the development time of their larvae to tell them how long someone was dead. 

Blue Bottle Fly Facts

 * A large group of flies is called a swarm
 * In each eye, there are 4000 facets that help them see
 * A blue Bottles smelling distance consists of over 750 yards
 * The average blue bottle fly defecates every 4-5 minutes
 * When the blue bottle fly flies it can travel 300 times the length of its body in one second
 * Blue Bottle Fly wings beat up to 200 times per second
 * Flies are not able to learn
 * If a blue Bottle sees a group of other Blue Bottles, it will go and join them
 * Blue Bottle Flies can die of fungal diseases
 * some old Egyptian hieroglyphics depict flies
 * Blue Bottle Flies can transmit diseases