Greenbottle fly feeding on salmon carcass (pic)

[ECooper]

Every Friday I post photos of a different species of fly on my blog (I title them “Flydays”; corny, I know). This past week’s post was about Lucilia sericata, the common greenbottle (http://wp.me/p2wM8r-uT); which is easily my favourite fly. Greenbottles are blow flies—feeding and laying their eggs on dung and carrion. So I attracted this specimen (and a number of other species) by putting the remains of a sockeye salmon out on my deck. I’d filleted the fish for dinner and kept the skeleton specifically to attract some flies.

Is it weird that I have a favourite fly?

Cheers,
EC

Olympus OM-D E-M5, Zuiko 35mm macro, manual exposure (F11 @ 1/200 sec), Olympus RF-11 ring flash (1/2 power) (on TTL), ISO: 200


P8120179 Lucilia copyright ernie cooper 2013 by ernie.cooper, on Flickr

 

[DragonsEye]

Awesome photo as always, Ernie! The bottleflies are definitely one of the most attractive of the flies.

And yes it is weird that you have a favorite fly -- and it is a weirdness I totally get.

 

[utricularia]

Is it weird that I have a favourite fly?

I don't think the fact that you have a favorite fly is weird. What I think is weird is the fact that you can justify why that fly is your favorite

 

[Lil Stinkpot]

I really like greenbottles, too. Around here, we also get some smaller red and golden bottle flies, which are even prettier. It's just a shame they're so dirty, but they do a necessary job, so I won't complain too much. I'll just set out some more dews.

Excellent shot.

 

[Plant Planter]

...Is it weird that I have a favourite fly?...

No. I might consider it weird that you have a fave fly, but other people might consider it weird that I have a favorite carnivorous plant or that I grow carnivorous plants in general. Or the fact that I love exotic flowers (as those of you who checked out my passion flower thread or my Interactive Grow List and Eat Counts should know).

And even though I absolutely loathe flies, I do like that they are excellent Dionaea and Sarracenia food and that some people can get good pictures of them. Hmm, I wonder who THAT might be?