How the fly lost its wings (and gained a superpower!)

Diptera (true flies) are a wonderful, vast and diverse group of animals making up 12-15% of the species on earth (Yeates et al. 2003, Thompson 2009).

There are around 200 million insects for every human on earth. They are found on every continent, some even living near on on the surface of the oceans.  They can pollinate plants (making chocolate possible!)(McAlister, 2022) feed on animal blood and spread disease or become wonderful agricultural pollinators and pest controllers (Burgio et al. 2024). 

But what makes flies unique? The clue is in the name - Dip - tera. This literally means "two wings" (di- meaning "two" and ptera meaning "wings" Gibb and Oseto, 2020). This adaptation from a four winged insect to two was an evolutionary transformation. Find out more from the articles below.​