There are few things more annoying than a bunch of flies hovering around the house while you try to sleep. It almost seems like they are a joke of nature, specifically designed to drive you crazy. They buzz around the room making an incredibly annoying sound, at a grid frequency, and on top of that, they land on your food or your body. And as if this were not enough, they can transmit various diseases and have disgusting larvae.

Even from an early age, we are taught that ecosystems are made up of many organisms that depend on each other. Automatically, this would mean that each organism has a role, a role to play. So do flies have any purpose or are they just useless and annoying?

Although it can be difficult to imagine what use a fly could have, they actually play an important role in nature. A female house fly lays around 100-150 eggs in something that can provide food for the larvae that will hatch from the eggs. This food usually consists of decomposing material, such as garbage, animal droppings, or grass clippings. Then, 8 hours to 2 days later, the worms hatch and begin feeding. They eventually pupate and transform into adult flies, restarting the cycle.

Fly larvae are very efficient disposers of trash and any other dead matter. Together with bacteria and other composers, they transform the material into other forms. In addition to removing materials from dead plants and animals or animal and human waste, flies also serve as food for other organisms. Lizards, forage insects, and even small mammals feed on fly eggs, larvae, and pupae. Then there are fish and other aquatic organisms, which feed on flies throughout their life cycle, just like birds and other land animals.

Imagine how garbage and other dead matter would accumulate if it weren’t for the flies. Or how many other organizations would lack their main course. The truth is that they are extremely annoying and can drive you crazy in no time, but they have their part. In fact, flies could be lost if they ceased to exist.