- This article is about the insect. For other meanings, see Fly (disambiguation)
A fly (plural flies) is any species of insect of the order Diptera, some of which can land on food and transmit bacteria to humans. Particularly the housefly (Musca domestica) is common amongst humans and has caused many diseases to spread in the past. Other flies, such as the horsefly (Family Tabanidae), can inflict painful bites. The larva of a fly is commonly called a maggot.
Maggots
Some types of maggots found on corpses can be of great use to forensic scientists. By their stage of development, these maggots can be used to give an indication of the time elapsed since death, as well as the place the organism died.
Some maggots are leaf miners.
Maggots are bred commercially, as a popular bait in angling, and a food for carnivourous pets such as reptiles or birds.
Use in medicine
Some maggots which eat dead, but not living, flesh have been used medically, being introduced into wounds to clean them. Other maggots, such as the screwworm, eat live flesh.
In the early days of medicine, maggot infestations of wounds (myiasis) were inevitable. The wounds that were infested tended to be less life-threatening than wounds without the infestation, so until the development of antibiotics it was common practice to leave the maggots. After antibiotics, the presence of maggots became viewed as unhygienic. In recent years, however, use of specially sanitized maggots has developed as a treatment for various types of wounds such as leg ulcers and pressure sores, gangrene and other bacterial infestations, since the maggot will only eat the dead, rotting and infected flesh and leave the living cells intact. It is especially useful for people with weakened immune systems or blood flow that become infected in the extremities, such as diabetics, and is particularly effective in treating diabetic foot problems.
Fly-like insects
The word "fly" also refers to insects of various other orders than Diptera:
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