Fly Facts for Kids
- There are more than 120,000 species of flies worldwide. About 18,000 found in North America. The most common species are houseflies, fruit flies, and horse flies.
- Most flies live an average of 21 days and take on various shapes throughout their short lives.
- A female housefly can lay up to 600 eggs in her short lifetime.
- Flies eat pretty much anything, from fruit to animal fecal matter (as in poop — ew!).
- They sneak inside houses and buildings in search of food.
- Want to know a secret place where you may find fruit flies? Your garbage disposal. But don’t stick your hand in there looking for any.
- Fruit flies have red eyes.
- Fruit flies can lay up to 500 eggs! Not all these eggs turn into little fruit fly babies, but that is still a lot of eggs.
- Flies can lay their eggs in garbage cans, compost piles, waste, and rotting plants and animals.
- Baby flies are called larvae but they are also known as maggots. Maggots can be a helpful bug. Doctors sometimes use them to help people who have hurt their skin or been burned. Why would doctors put bugs on your skin? Because maggots can help people heal by eating the infection. You could call them a doctor’s team of nibbling nurses.
- Do you think male or female house flies are bigger? If you guessed female, you are correct! This means that if you were a house fly that your mom and your sisters would be the biggest members of your family.
- How do you know if a house fly is nearby? Listen for a soft buzzing sound.
- Flies are dirty! They can mess with our food by transferring diseases like malaria, salmonella, and tuberculosis.
- Flies are attracted to light – maybe because they use it to guide them, they’re looking for food, or are trying to escape from predators.
- You can make a fly swatter with simple craft supplies!
Keep reading to see more fly facts for kids.