Why do flies rub their heads constantly with their forefeet?

Flies will not only rub their faces with their front legs, but also rub their feet, which is actually the same as instinct, for example, cats often wash their faces with their paws, and cats wash very seriously, and the practice of flies is similar, but the effect is richer.

First of all, for the sake of cleanliness and hygiene, its leg structure is easy to stick to food scraps, excrement and other garbage, and the residue left behind will increase the weight of flies and increase flight resistance. If we look closely, we will find that there are smiling burrs on the limbs of the flies, and the flies need to constantly stay on various things, and there are many natural contact residues, and if we do not dispose of them, we will consume a lot of physical strength on our next flight.

Secondly, flies rely on their body senses as well as the bristles on their legs to perceive the world around them, and once they are blinded, they will lose their orientation and even be affected by their next search for food. Flies don't just rub their feet, they have to rub their whole body all the time, which helps them sense the taste of new food, or to be precise, keep their sense of touch sensitive.

In the end, the scientists found that whenever a fly rubs its feet quickly, it is likely to summon a mate to reproduce. When female flies increase the frequency of foot rubbing, they are able to release unique pheromones to attract males. This applies mainly to females, and is likely to be an additional effect.

Extended Note: How Long Do Flies Survive Headless?

Although the IQ of the flies we see is not high, it is definitely not to deliberately get the head down as a toy to play, the reason why it shows such an exaggerated side, it is really an unintentional move, or to rub the feet and rub the habit, I didn't expect to grasp the strength for a while, and rubbed the head down.

At that time, the fly did not realize that its forelimbs were holding its own head, and deliberately played for a while until it got bored and threw it away. After seeing the movement of the fly, we will see that the fly is not dead, and at the same time there is no blood coming out, don't flies need heads? Not really!

This practice of not dying will not die, in fact, for the fly will not immediately kill it, insects are different from mammals, mammals do not have a head will die immediately, because the brain and respiratory organs are all concentrated in the head part, the importance of the head exceeds all the organs of the body, but insects are different.

Flies rub their heads off is an unconscious act, and flies often "rub their hands" for several reasons: recognizing the smell of objects, summoning a mate, and rubbing food scraps off their legs to reduce the weight of the flight.

Can a fly still survive if it is rubbed off?

The head of the fly can survive for a period of time after rubbing it off, because the circulatory system, respiratory system, and nervous system of the fly are not highly concentrated in the head.

Flies will starve to death if they lose their heads, and although they will not affect blood circulation without a head, they will not be able to continue eating.

Although flies have a strong tolerance to bacteria, they are only maintained by rapid excretion when the body is intact, and they will die from bacterial infection after losing their heads.

In fact, this is not a common behavior of flies, but more of their unconscious movements, it may be that the fly accidentally tears off its head when rubbing its hands and face, and even the fly may not know that the thing in its hand is its head, and will play with it for a while.

For the vast majority of animals, the head cannot survive after it falls off, but flies are insects, and the circulatory system in their bodies belongs to the open-tube circulatory system, and the blood mainly flows between the heart, dorsal blood vessels, and various organs and tissues, and flies can breathe with their abdomen, so when the head is unscrewed off, the fly just can't see things, and can still move.

Due to the lack of heads, flies cannot eat normally and can only excrete, and the energy is constantly lost, and the possibility of starvation is high in the end, and death may also be caused by bacterial infection in the wound.

Fly hand rubbing is a physiological phenomenon that exists in the fly itself, and it is a way for flies to clean themselves. Flies move everywhere and have a lot of dirty substances on their bodies, and if these substances are not removed, they will increase the weight of the flies and affect their flight. The suction cups on its hands and feet are attached to the surface of objects when it lands, and it is not easy to walk when it stops.

Since they don't have a nose, flies rely on their legs to distinguish the taste of food by their taste and tactile sensory organs, and if their legs are covered with dirt, it will affect their judgment of food. In order to be able to distinguish smells correctly, it is necessary to rub your hands and feet frequently to ensure the precise sensitivity of the taste organs. Flies also like to fly around, see something, will pounce on it to taste, legs are easy to stain all kinds of food, leisure time to stop to rub hands and feet, clean up the food on it, is conducive to their rapid take-off and barrier-free landing.

Flies always rub their hands and feet because it keeps their feet clean and makes them lose weight, so that it does not affect flight; And in doing so, you can also get rid of the old flavors, and then dip them again, and then taste the new flavors, keeping the taste sensitive.

1. Keep your feet clean and not affect your flight.

Flies move everywhere, there are a lot of dirty substances on the body, if these substances are not removed, it will increase the weight of the fly, affect the flight, after getting wet, the suction cups on its hands and feet are adsorbed on the surface of the object when it lands, and it is not easy to walk quickly when it stops, so the fly will always keep rubbing its hands and feet.

2. Maintain the sensitivity of taste.

Flies have taste receptors on their feet, which means that humans need to put food in their mouths to taste it, but flies can taste it by dipping it on their feet. So when the flies stop, they will constantly dip around with their feet, taste the taste, and rub it again, the purpose is to clean the taste receptors, remove the old taste, and then dip it again, and then taste the new taste. It's no wonder that the fly it saw always walked around and rubbed its feet as it stopped, but it didn't expect it to be savoring everywhere.

The harm of doing so

Because flies have this bad habit, they can transmit a lot of germs. If flies stand in feces or sewage and fly to food, they will leave germs on food. In addition, flies have an even worse habit, that is, when they land on food, they not only eat food, but also excrete feces, and some live germs in the intestines, parasite eggs, etc. are excreted on the food.

If people eat such food, it is easy to contract diseases, affect their health, and even endanger their lives.