Regal blowfly
The regal blowfly is a big, chunky fly that shines like a jewel. Its body glows blue, green or violet, depending on how the light hits it. Its head is pale yellow with large red eyes.
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Fun facts
Its wings are clear like little windows, with a dark stripe along the front edge. That stripe is how experts tell it apart from a look-alike fly.
The male's two big eyes are so large that they touch each other on top of its head.
On top of its head it has three extra tiny eyes, set in a triangle.
It is quite rare, and at about 18 millimetres long it is a big fly.
Most asked questions about Regal blowfly
?Is the regal blowfly dangerous?
No. It cannot sting or bite you. Just keep flies away from your food.
?Why is the regal blowfly so shiny?
Its body reflects light in blue, green and violet. The colour seems to change as you look at it from different sides.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Chrysomya marginalis
- Named by
- Wiedemann, 1830
- Group
- Flies and mosquitoes
- Family
- Calliphoridae
- Classification
- Insecta > Diptera > Calliphoridae
- Lives on
- Africa, Asia
- Also known as
- Regal bluebottle, Bordered blowfly
Where the facts come from
- Chrysomya marginalis (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by JMK. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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