Living World Photography Competition - 1st Place

View all entries click here: Living World Photography Competition

Congratulations to Rod Hill with this image entitled 'House Fly (Helina reversio)'

Rod tells us ''Many thanks for the award, it is quite humbling and also exiting to receive an award and have your work appreciated.

This image was taken using a monopod and ball head using natural light only. I never use flash, preferring to only use available light. This is part of a series of images from the order Diptera or ‘Flies’. I am gradually building up my portfolio of macro wildlife images of the various different orders, which is a new and ongoing project.''

House Fly (Helina reversio)

''All flies belong to the Order Diptera or True flies with the name being derived from Greek di (two) & ptera (wings). Diptera is a large order comprising an estimated one million species worldwide. Insects of this order use only two pairs of wings to fly with the hind wings reduced to what is known as Halteres. Halteres detect body movement and rotation in flight which the fly uses to correct its position in space while flying, effectively acting as a balance and guidance system. Flies have been known as carriers of disease and pathogens particularly in tropical regions but this only applies to some flies e.g. mosquitos etc., perhaps what is less known is that flies are important pollinators second only to bees and relatives.

This fly commonly belongs to the loosely termed group of ‘house flies’. House flies or stable flies belong to the Family Muscidae which contains ca. 4000 species in over 100 genera. These lies are synanthropic (synanthropy) i.e. have benefited from their associations with humans and human habitats and applies to many species animal and arthropods (does not include domesticated species).

This fly here seen feeding on pollen from ragwort is Helina reversio (house fly group) belongs to the Class Insecta, Order Diptera, suborder Brachycera, Family Muscidae and Genus Helina. A common and variable fly whose larvae can be found in cow dung (therefore subject to predation by the Noon Fly larvae) rotting wood and moss and often cited hornets’ nests?''