Joel Dixon, age 10, of Peoria, I11.,

Does a fly have bones?

What would we do without our bones? We could not walk or even stand. For they prop up and support our body. Without thorn our bodies would be helpless lumps of jelly. We certainly need our bones. But many, many animals have no bones at all. What's more, they manage very well without them.

A caterpillar has no bones, a snail has no bones. The jolly‑fish, the lobster, the crab and the oyster all have no bongs at all. And all the countless insects have no bones. Since the fly is an insect he has no bones. Strange to say, there are more animals who have no bonds than there are that have them. But :Mother Nature provides for these boneless creatures in other ways.

Our bones are wrapped in muscle and skin. The muscles are like thick elastic bands. We can pull them up short or stretch them out long. The bones have joints, somewhat like the hinges on a door. Lets consider the elbow joint. There is a muscle across the joint. Ono end is fixed to the bone of the lower arm, the other is fixed to the bong of the upper arm. When we shake the muscle shorter it pulls up the lower arm bone and the elbow bends.

The fly, too, can bend his joints, even though ho has no bones. His legs are covered with stiff armor. The ,joints are garters of softer, leathery armor. Like our bones, the hard armor skin will not bend. The bands of softer skin will bend.

The fly has muscles, too. Like ours, they are elastic and ha can make them shorter or long as he chooses. The ends of the muscles are fixed to the Inside of the fly's sturdy skin. One end is fixed above a joint and the other end below it.

Next time you catch a fly look at those tiny legs. You can sea where the hard cast is jointed. You will also got an idea of how small the muscles inside the fly’s legs must be.

Nevertheless so the tiny creature can move these tiny muscles. Watch him wash his face. He bends his front legs this way and that. To do this ha pulls up the muscles which are fixed inside the skin. This bends his points.

We have ribs and a backbone to support the delicate organs inside our bodies. We have a bony skull to protect our brains. But not so the fly. However, he also has soft delicate organs inside for breathing and digesting. His body is in three segments, the head, chest and abdomen. And each little segment is wrapped in a protective coat of sturdy armor.

The fly and all its insect relatives manage very well without bones. But only because they are such small creatures. All the larger animals need Inside bones to support them. The boneless creatures are all small, or fairly small fellows.