Flying Blue Insect: What Are These Flies I Am Seeing?

At least once in your lifetime, you must have encountered a flying blue insect or a flying insect with blue shining back and wondered what it was.

Are you eager to know what these insects actually are? Do you want to know their real names? Do you want to know the habitats and behaviors of these pests?

Well, then, follow us as we dive into the fly world to uncover this mysterious insect.

 

What is a Blue Fly Insect?

A blue fly insect is a type of housefly that got its name ‘blue bottle fly’ due to its blue-green hard upper shell (for protection and defense).

This blue fly insect is mostly attracted to:

• Rotting flesh
• Open wound
• Garbage

These colored flies are known to transmit diseases and are usually found in homes where there are dead, decaying animals (birds, mice, etc.) and in trash sites, including garbage dumps.

 

Read also: The Fly Life: The 4 Interesting Stages Of Growth

 

What Does a Flying Blue Insect Look Like?

When you spot a flying insect with blue shining back, how can you tell that it is a blue bottle fly? Well, we will be describing this pest along with the colors of each body part:

• Blue bottle flies reach lengths between 10 and 14 mm, which is nearly twice the size of your usual housefly.
• The head and thorax have dull gray colorations; the back of the head has a long, firm hair covering that is yellow-orange in color.
• They have blue abdomens that appear to be somewhat metallic with black markings.
• Their body and legs are covered with black, stiff hair.
• They have red eyes.
• They have transparent wings.
• They have black and pink-colored legs and antennas.
• They have bright, purple chests.
  • They have spikes on their chests that protect them from other flies.
• They have 4 legs, of course, and 2 antennae.

 

Where Does the Flying Blue Insect Live?

The flying blue insect can be found in various parts of the world, including:

• United States
• Greenland
• Southern Africa
• Europe
• South of Mexico
• Alaska

These flies usually prefer areas with higher elevations and are mostly plentiful in these regions.

During spring and fall, these insects are found in riparian areas; during winter and summer, blue fly insects can be found in rural areas.

 

Read also: How Long Do Mayfly Live? | Lifecycle of Mayfly

 

What Do Flying Blue Insects Eat?

Flying blue insects usually feed on rotten meat and animal remains, including those of humans. As adults, they feed on nectar; as larvae, they feed on corpses.

It has, however, been observed that when these pests feed on human food, they tend to grow better than when they feed on their primary food sources (raw meat).

The blue fly insects feed on nectar as adults and just like the bees, these pests pollinate flowers. But of course, these insects are attracted to flowers with foul smells.

Some flowers, such as carrion flowers, skunk cabbage, dead horse arum, American pawpaw, etc emit bad odors which they use to attract flies and carrion beetles. Bees go for scenting flowers, so these flowers emit foul smells so that the flies can pollinate them instead.

How do the flying insects search for their food sources? Well, here is how they do it:

• They fly together in packs.
• They scout for food sources.
• A fly detects a food source.
• The fly sends out a signal-like pheromone to alert the other flies.
• The alerted flies charge towards the food source.

 

How Does the Flying Blue Insect Reproduce?

How do these blue fly insects reproduce? Below are the steps involved in their reproduction process:

• Adults lay their eggs in wounds and corpses that are still fresh.
• The flies emerge as larvae and feed off this corpse.
• Shortly before entering the pupae stage, the larvae burrow into the soil.
• The flies emerge from the soil as adults and the entire process repeats again.

 

FAQs About the Flying Blue Insect

What Does the Black and Blue Flying Insect Look Like?

The black and blue flying insects usually reach lengths of 0.3 to 0.4 inches and have a variety of color mixes on their thorax and abdomen, including:

• Metallic blue
• Green
• Black
• Bronze

The black and blue flying insects have two antennas that have 3 segments, with the third segment connected to the aristate.

These metallic blue green flying insects have thoraxes that are slightly larger than their abdomen.

The blue fly insects have bristles that cover their thorax, abdomen, and legs. The bristles are important as they enable experts to identify and differentiate the different species of flies.

They possess one pair of wings, spongelike mouthparts, and large compound eyes.

What do their maggots look like? Well, these maggots reach lengths of 0.34 to 0.85 inches long and are usually white or yellow in coloration.

Unlike their adult counterparts, these maggots have hooklike mouthparts and bodies with hairlike tubercles (the small, rounded points of bone).

 

Where Does the Black and Blue Flying Insect Live?

The black and blue flying insects can be found everywhere in the world but are more prevalent in Africa, Southern Europe, and South America.

These bugs are mostly found in tropical and subtropical areas, as they prefer to dwell in regions where the soil is moist and their larvae can thrive.

These bug species vary in terms of preference, with some preferring warm temperatures and prevailing more during summer and some preferring cool temperatures and prevailing more during winter.

You will mostly find these pests in/around the following places:

• Restaurants
• Garbage dumps
• Meat processing plants
• Farms
• Dead animals and organic plant materials
• Trash sites

Finding these bugs in the home can signify the presence of rotten flesh or dead, decaying animals.

 

Read also: Why Do Flies Fly In A Circle?

 

Conclusion

There is a 99 percent possibility that you must have encountered these flying blue insects at least once in your lifetime.

These pests are mostly attracted to rotten, decaying matter and can help you know when you have something like this in your surrounding environment.

You will notice that in the course of this article, we withheld the name of this fly. What do you think is the real name of this metallic blue green flying insect? Let us interact via the comments section below!

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