I've Seen An Elephant Fly Trivia Quiz

Answer: robber flies

The robber flies are big and robust, and look like carpenter bees or bumble bees They can even drone like bees in flight. They pounce on their prey and inject them with a neurotoxin. Enzymes are also injected that basically turns the insides of the bee into a liquid meal which the fly proceeds to suck up like a thick milkshake.

Answer: dragonfly

The dragonfly typically lives near water, wetlands and bogs due to their larvae being aquatic. The "nymphs", unlike the adults, can give a nasty bite. The dragonfly is very similar to the damselfly except that they hold their wings more perpendicular to the body when at rest.

They are highly valued for their role in insect control. Ecologists consider them to be very important to the environment.

Answer: house fly

The house fly loves nothing better than some decomposing organic matter. Offal, dung and carrion attract the house fly immediately and with bacteria present the chances of the flies transmitting diseases are considerable. Transmittable diseases can include cholera, typhoid and dysentery. The best way to beat the house fly is to improve sanitation and waste disposal.

Answer: horse fly

A hippophage is an eater of horses. In this case, the horse fly likes to suck the blood of its host, whether domesticated or in the wild. It is the female horse fly who sucks blood while the male feeds on nectar and collects pollen. Anybody who has been bitten by one of these flies knows how painful it can be. The fly belongs to the family Tabanidae.

Answer: flower fly

The flower fly is essential in agroecosystems, such as orchards, where they can out-perform the native bees when it comes to pollination. Their maggots eat aphids, thrips and caterpillars, and are as welcome on the farm as ladybugs and lacewings for pest control.

Answer: flesh fly

They have red eyes and a prominent row of bristles on each side of their thoraxes. They inhabit any carcass or dung that is exposed to daylight. Their larvae feed on decaying flesh, dead insects and excrement. A few of the larger flies can deposit so many eggs that when they hatch, the maggots become a heaving mass wriggling and devouring their food.

Answer: black fly

The black fly has about 1,800 different species within its family. They are considered a pest in the USA and many states in the US have instituted programs for the control of this insect. The female black fly uses blood for egg development, but gets its energy from plant nectar.

They are also known to be a scourge to ranchers who can verify weight loss in their cows. The fly is such a pest that the forest workers in Canada will not work unless there is black fly control written into their work contracts.

Answer: blow fly

Calliphora vomitoria is the blow fly's Latin name. The female lays its eggs on decaying food and matter. The larvae, commonly known as maggots, will hatch. Using small black hooks to tear the flesh, they vomit saliva onto the food to dissolve it, and then they suck the mixture up.

Then, after a week of feeding, they will burrow into the soil to pupate. They prefer foul smells and are useful in the pollination of the more putrid smelling plants such as greenbriar and the fungi elegant stinkhorn. Lovely! By the way the broad-headed fly is the rarest fly in the world and has not been seen since 1903.

Answer: stiletto fly

The white larva of the stiletto fly lives just below the soil surface near a river bank. It can feel the vibrations of passing insects as it wriggles through the soil until it is underneath its prey. It then pierces its prey from below and injects a paralysing toxin into the unfortunate creature. Then it drags its victim below ground to be ingested.

Answer: soldier fly

The larvae of the soldier fly have the ability to churn cow manure into a liquid state and this is not to the liking of the house fly larvae. Also, the presence of these soldier larvae seems to inhibit the egg laying ability of the house fly.