Kim Warren, age8, of Clarksville, Ark., for her question:
DOES THE FLY HAVE GOOD EYES?
When you hear a fly buzzing, you are actually hearing the sound of his wings beating. A housefly will beat its wings about 200 times every second, which is really fast. But that speed seems slow when you come across some types of midget flies that move their wings more than 1,000 times every second. A housefly, by the way, can fly at an average speed of 4.5 miles per hour.
Flies make up a chief group or order of insects. There are about 100,000 different kinds in all parts of the world. Each fly has two wings. The insect order is called Dipera, which comes from the Greek words meaning "two wings.''
Most of the fly's face is covered by his two large eyes. The males in some species have eyes that are so large they actually squeeze against each other. In most of the females the eyes are farther apart.
A fly, like most other kinds of insects, has compound eyes that are actually made up of thousands of six sided lenses. About 4,000 separate lenses can be found in each housefly's eye with no two lenses pointing in exactly the same direction. Each lens in a fly's eye works independently.
Everything a fly sees seems to be broken up into small sections. while he can quickly see any movement, a fly does not have sharp vision.
Two antennae near the eyes warn a fly if there is danger and also help him find food. The size and shape of the antennae vary among different species of flies and even between the males and females. The antennae can feel changes in the movement of the air which may warn of an approaching fly swatter or other enemy.
A fly will also smell with his antennae. Rotting food has an odor of chemicals that especially seems to attract houseflies.
Below the fly's big eyes is a mouth that looks something like a funnel. The lower part is called the proboscis which is used like a straw to sip liquids, its only food. Two soft, oval shaped parts called labella are found at the tip of the proboscis. The fly uses these parts to sponge up liquids which are then sucked into the proboscis. The fly turns solid food into liquids by dropping saliva on it.
In addition to the common housefly, members of the fly family include deer flies, fruit flies, mosquitoes, sand flies, tsetse flies and horseflies. Mosquitoes and other biting flies have needlelike mouth parts hidden in the proboscis. The sharp points are stabbed into the victim's skin and blood is sipped.
Flies do not bite or chew because they cannot open their jaws.