Flies

All insects play an important part in our ecosystems, including Flies, Vancouver Island, BC. As part of food chains, insects provide sustenance for countless other animals.

Alder Fly

The alderfly begins life as larvae in water sources (water sources can be either calm or active). These larvae are noted for their length and multiple leg pairs as well as protrusions that appear as legs but serve as gills. The larvae lie in ambush and prey on other insect larvae and waterborne invertebrates. Read More….

Anthomyiid Fly

The Anthomyiid flies are small to medium-sized and are usually yellow, brown, gray, or blackish. They have a well-developed calypter at the base of each wing, the wings are sometimes clouded with a gray or brown colour and the legs are yellowish to black. Read More….

Black Fly

The adult Black Fly females are blood feeders and are often serious pests, just go fishing when they are out, and you will know what l mean. Livestock has died from being bitten by many black flies. They also transmit diseases to wildlife in North America, and to humans in other parts of the world. Read More….

Blow Fly

The name blow fly comes from the bloated condition of the rotting animal carcasses that their larvae, known as maggots, infest. The most frequent species found under these conditions is the common blowfly. Adult blowflies, on the other hand, feed primarily on flower nectar, plant sap, and other sugary materials. Read More….

Brown Fly

The Brown Fly does not have teeth or a stinger. Their mouths absorb food like a sponge. They can only eat liquids, but they can turn many solid foods into liquid by spitting or vomiting on them. Their tongues are shaped like straws, so they can suck up their food. Read More….

Deer-Horse Fly

The female Deer-Horse Fly is bloodsucking and the bites can be very painful. They can be serious pests of livestock and humans. The males are found on flowers and feed only on nectar and pollen. The adults are often seen around swamps, marshes, and ponds. Read More….

European Crane Fly

The European crane fly thrives in moist soils and prefers mild winters and cool summers. They have been found in many different types of turf grass (at homes and golf courses), sod farms, and grass fields.  The flies also gather in areas with thatch buildup. Read More….

Flower Fly

Flower flies are small to large flies that are very slender to robust. Most are brightly coloured and many look like bees or wasps, but they do not sting. They have large eyes that cover almost the entire head. There are many types of flower flies in the Pacific Northwest. Read More….

Greenback Fly 

There are more than 100,000 different species of flies including the greenback fly. They are found everywhere in the world, even in Antarctica. They belong to the order of insects called Diptera which means two wings. Most insects have 4 wings. Read More…. 

Green Bottle Fly

Green bottle flies are slightly larger than houseflies. They are brilliant, metallic blue-green in colour with black markings, bristle-like hair, and three cross grooves on the thorax. The wings of the green bottle fly are clear and veined in brown, while the legs and antennae are black. Read More….

Hover Fly

The hoverfly belongs to a large family of small to big flies. They are true flies or Diptera, with only one pair of wings. Hoverflies have spots, bands or stripes, of yellow, and brown against a dark-coloured background, sometimes with dense hair covering the body surface. Read More….

March Fly

The larvae of the March Fly live in the soil and feed on decaying organic matter and plant roots. Adults are important plant pollinators. Adults are most abundant in spring and early summer when they are often seen over fields and other open areas. Read More….

Marsh Snipe Fly

The Marsh Snipe Fly (Rhagio Tringarius) has an overall length of up to 15mm. The eyes are vividly green and incredible. The thorax is light brown with darker markings, it is hairy-looking, like a lion’s mane. The abdomen is quite orangy looking with dark stripes down each side. The last two segments of the males are black. The wings are clear with vein lines. Read More….

Mosquito

The female Mosquito is a blood feeder and can transmit many diseases such as malaria and yellow fever. The males feed on nectar. Larvae are aquatic and occur in ponds, pools, tree holes, and in artificial containers that have standing water. Read More….

Mydas Fly

Mydas flies are true flies belonging to the order Diptera and family Mydidae. While the number of species classified within mydidae is fewer than 400 species, this family of insects occurs worldwide. Read More….

Onion Fly

The onion fly passes the winter in the soil in a maggot stage called the pupae. Pupae are brownish, oval, and slightly larger than a grain of wheat. As soon as the weather warms up in spring, the pupae develop into adults which emerge in mid to late May in the onion-growing areas of B.C. Read More….

Robber Fly

Adult robber flies are predators of other flying insects. They attack a variety of insects, even those that are larger than themselves. They insert their short but strong proboscis into the insects to suck their body fluids. Some of the larger species can give a painful bite if handled. Read More….

Western Pond Fly

The Western Pond Fly is very adaptable at mimicking, they appear to be a yellowjacket wasp. The deception is well done.  While the yellowjackets have a powerful sting, the western pond fly is harmless and is considered a valuable pollinator of flowers. The larvae are scavengers in the soggy habitat where develop. This species ranges throughout western Canadian Provinces and all of Vancouver Island. Read More….

Western Giant Crane Fly

The Western Giant Crane Fly adult in BC can be found on the western side of the Rockies and out as far as Vancouver Island, look for them wherever you find forests with streams and lakes or marshes. Read More….

For instance, just one crow can eat as many as 16 bushels of insects in one year. So all insects are beneficial and necessary. It’s just that with some insects, it’s harder to remember that they are a necessary part of the world around us.

Vancouver Island has many, many flies, and mostly we do not like them, They are the black, horse, the mosquitoes, and the crane flies, and there are many more.

Other insects have been considered flies, like dragonflies, mayflies, fireflies, and butterflies, but these all belong to other orders of insects. True flies are insects of the Order Diptera, which are often referred to as the true or two-winged.

True Flies are always listed as 2 words separated like house fly or crane fly while others are listed as 1 word like dragonfly or damselfly. The compound eyes are usually large, often occupying most of the head. Mouthparts are modified and combined into a sucking proboscis, which is highly variable in structure. Some mydas have mouthparts that don’t function. They do not bite in the true sense, but puncture the skin of their victims and suck blood.

The order Diptera is usually divided into two suborders, the Nematocera, a suborder of elongated flies with thin, segmented antennae and mostly aquatic larvae, consisting of mosquitoes, crane flies, gnats, and the brachycera, a suborder of short-horned flies represents a major division of the Diptera containing approximately 120 families and a great diversity of species, morphological innovations, and life-history strategies. The name brachycera or shortened horn refers to their shortened antennae, a reduced antenna with fewer than 8 antennal.

About 150,000 species of living Diptera have been described in approximately 10,000 genera and 150 families. The true number of fly species is probably many times more than this. Many species are cool or cold-adapted and the relative abundance of Diptera in the total insect fauna is higher in northern countries such as Canada than in the world as a whole. In high arctic sites, the number of fly species is greater than that of all other insects combined.

Their astounding success is owing to their great versatility in the exploitation of habitats and their ability to utilize every possible sort of food. Flies are ubiquitous and abundant in individuals as well as in species numbers. They are an important food source for other animals. Many are parasitic on other insects and help keep their populations under control.

Some herbivorous flies have been successfully used to control weeds. Many are important pollinators of plants. Many are invaluable as scavengers and are vital in aiding the decomposition of plant and animal material. They are the insects most known to infect humans and domesticated animals with deadly diseases. Bloodsucking flies transmit many diseases, including malaria, yellow fever, and sleeping sickness.

A message from Bud

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