Monday, December 27, 2010

Hair Fly Discovered Again


This freakish hair fly has once again been seen in Kenya. The first time the insect was seen was back in 1933.

Since the first finding of the Terrible Hairy Fly, many people have traveled to try and find one. The area it was known to be in is a rocky cleft located on the east side of Nairobi.

There were two insect professionals that just recently saw one of the 1cm long insects, also known as the Mormotomyia Hirsuta, just sitting on a rock.

The appeance of the fly is like that of a hairy spider only it has hairy legs. The species has now been rediscovered. Dr Robert Copeland and Dr Ashley Kirk-Spriggs found the spider on an journey that was being led by the International Ctr of Insect Physiology and Ecology or ICIPE.

The fly has only been seen two other times. Once in 1933 and again in 1948. This latest discovery has caused a bit of excitement across the world in insect museums according to the research team members.

The fly is not capable to fly. It does have wings that don’t work. Just for looks. They look like little straps instead of wings. It also has very small eyes.

It likes to place its eggs in bat feces and is thought to live in wet areas where bats exist in crevices. They exist in vague rock areas found in Kenya’s Ukazi Hills.

Since the fly is not capable to fly, and it has no way to attach itself to another animal besides enwrapping it’s legs around a bat, it is most likely that the fly can only be found in this area.

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