Along with the observation of the honey bee, we were able to observe a Lucilia 'Greenbottle' fly this week. It flew into our house and was trapped along the windowsill. We normally capture flying insects and spiders in our house and place them back outside, but with this Greenbottle fly we kept it for a few extra moments to be able to observe it's structure and study it. Skylar noted it's wing structure, compound eyes, legs, as well as the thorax and abdomen. It was a good lesson in how flies are able to land and take off quickly and use their eyes to examine their surroundings. These flies are not the greatest flies to have flying around your home, or yard. They mostly, if not entirely, depend on decaying matter, or fecal matter. They are above all the most disgusting of the flies species, but even so, it's nice to be able to study them and learn about their life. Its body is 10–14 mm in length – slightly larger than a house fly – and has brilliant, metallic, blue-green or golden coloration with black markings. These flies live less than a month.
