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Why do house flys have little hairs on them?

My wife took an amazing picture (imho) of a fly that I got the other day. However, until I saw the picture, I’d never seen the little hairs a fly before. Why do house flys have little hairs on them? Or am I seeing things? Tell me what you think - this is the picture of the fly in question.

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Answer #1

I always believed that the hairs aided in adhering to surfaces…so I looked it up.

From “Ask a Scientist”, Cornell University:

“Many insects have thousands of tiny hairs that help grip or distribute the secretion to aid in gripping. The hairs increase the surface area to aid in holding onto surfaces. Insects are not alone in using hairs to grip in order to hang onto smooth surfaces, geckos do it too.”

More information can be found at: http://www.ccmr.cornell.edu/education/ask/index.html?quid=652

Flies are gross but it sounds like your wife took a cool photo!

Meg ;-)

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