Why the Fly?

Among my list of burning, albeit random, life questions is, why the fly? What possible use is this creature in the grand scheme of things? This is a creature who seeks out manure, garbage, and decay for his crib. No wonder he's always rubbing his little legs together. Yes, he's food for spiders and other predators( including zappers, sticky paper, and pesticides, thank goodness), but I daresay the latter would find something else to put on the menu if flies were 86'd.

So now there's a medical use for flies, or at least, their larvae. Maggots are increasingly used for wounds that won't heal. They eat the necrotic flesh, clearing the way for healthy tissue to proliferate. I guess Theodoric of York, Barber-Surgeon (Saturday Night Live vintage role for Steve Martin during the '70s) wasn't so off base with this medeival prescription. Cupping, another medieval remedy where heated glass vessels about the size of a modern juice glass were applied to the back, leaving quasi-burn circles where the ill humours were sucked right out of the patient's body. Are leeches next?

Factoid: flies seek out decomposing corpses to lay their eggs because the putrifying body fluids contain mega-nutrition for the maggots. Cremation, anyone?

What other creatures have questionable purposes in the food chain? Let me hear from you!


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