Calliphora vomitoria

Otherwise known as the bluebottle fly but I do love the name vomitoria!

For such remarkable looking and iridescent creations, it's a shame they arrive with the words...

- dustbins
- scavengers
- faeces
- dead animals
- carriers of disease
- pest
- nuisance
- myiasis
- pathogenic micro-organism
- sewage
- infected fluids

I remember my English teacher at secondary school delighting in telling us how flies munch your food, regurgitate it and stamp it back in, repeating the process multiple times.

Get the cling film out!

On the up side... There is an importance attached to blowflies (another name for them): Apparently, surgical maggots, the larvae of some blowflies, doctors use to clean infected wounds to promote healing.

They are here for a reason!