an essay by Ivy
Flies are nasty, but did you know we can't live without them? Flies eat garbage. The earth would be
covered in rot if flies were not around to eat it.
The grossest thing about flies is that they carry disease on their sticky feet. Houseflies use their sticky feet to climb up walls and across ceilings. Food sticks to their feet as they fly from thing to thing.
The next grossest thing about flies is that they vomit on food to turn it into liquid and then suck it up using their spongy mouthparts. If you are not grossed out already, for a fly's dinner we are talking about dead animals, rotten food, and garbage. I know that it is nasty but they are cleaning up the world.
Flies lay their eggs on rotten food. Their eggs hatch into maggots which are nasty. Have you ever seen maggots? They chew their rotten meat instead of sucking it up like their parents.
I hope I have convinced you that flies are useful and nasty. You do not want one on you. But you do want some to clean up dead stuff around you.
