No room on the stool? - a photo on Flickriver

            Not my usual type of wildlife photograph but it was too interesting to ignore.  These flies were at an extraordinary density on a freshly deposited sheep turd.  These are Flesh Flies (Sarcophaga spp) but there are a number of near-identical species that require examination of the genitalia to confirm identification.  The females require protein before they can produce tiny maggots, bypassing the egg stage.  This is one adaptation to rapid development on a habitat that might not be around for long.  The larvae and adults feed on carrion but the adults also feed on dung.  And what a great job they do.  We'd be at least knee deep in dead things and droppings if we didn't have such creatures.  Even though I don't know the exact species I can sex them as there is a gap between the males' eyes whereas female eyes meet in the middle.  From what I can see these are mainly females, but a few males are definitely present (there's an obvious female top right facing, and a male dead centre).  Now I think that these are all feeding on the rich moisture on this fresh sheep shit, before heading off in search of carrion for their larvae, though they may be using the dung as larval food.  Incidentally the scientific name of one of the most common British species of Flesh Fly is Sarcophaga carnivora.  I don't need to explain carnivora but Sarcophaga essentially means the same; flesh-eating.  Very similar to the name for Ancient Greek stone coffins (Sarcophagus) which were so named because they were constructed of alkaline limestone which quickly decomposed (ie ate) the body.

I took this photograph on the Peak District Moors in late June.  When I used Google images to search both Flesh Fly and Sarcophaga I never found an image anything like this.  Most pictures were just portraits of individual flies.

Taken on: June 23, 2021

Tags:

Sarcophaga

carnivora

Flies

Fly

sheep

shit

Peak

District

South

Yorkshire

Tim Melling « less

Sets appears in: • Insects and Spiders

Stats: 4,859 views / 36 comments

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