Awesome Fly

So the last post was a little lame.  I channeled my inner Brundlefly and tried to be funny.  It didn’t work too well.

Here is a photograph of the fly Euthycera arcuata.

We tend to look at some creatures with awe (think bison), and others, like flies, are just things we swat at.

This fly is a snail predator.  The adult finds snails and lays its eggs on them.  The larva then feeds on the snail.  I have not witnessed this behavior, but it has to be fairly complex.

With the intricate patterns to its wings, the fly probably uses them in visual displays–either to hook up with the opposite sex, or to intimidate individuals of the same sex.  I have not seen this either, but I have seen the behavior in fruit flies.  It is an interesting and complicated behavior.

How many moving parts are on a fly?  How are they able to do the things that they do?

By comparison, bison just lower their heads to find food, push each other around when they fight, and lie down in a grassy spot to have their young.

Based on brain size, we would assume that bison are more intelligent than flies.  But aren’t the behaviors of flies much more complicated than those of most mammals?

Why are we not filled with awe looking at flies?