Featured Image Credit: zackdfilms/youtube
Topics: Weird, Animals, Food And Drink
Claire Reid
People have been left feeling thoroughly grossed out after seeing how a fly eats if it lands on your food. And let me tell you, it is pretty bloody disgusting.
Flies are usually seen as a fairly harmless nuisance - buzzing around, diving into your wine, landing on your scran before you get a chance to take a bite. But have you ever stopped to think about what happens when they land on your food?
You may have assumed a fly will land, take a tiny fly-sized bite and then buzz off to avoid being swatted - but the reality is actually a lot grimmer.
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YouTuber Zack D. Films shared a short clip that explains the ins and outs of how flies eat and it makes for pretty uncomfortable viewing.
Flies are unable to chew food, like we do, so when it’s time to chow down they basically chuck up some special saliva that has a digestive enzyme in it, onto the food, which makes it mushy meaning enough that they can slurp it up with their proboscis. Mmm. Anyone else feeling hungry?
The clip was shared on Reddit where people were left horrified with one commenting: “This is so much worse than just thinking they chewed it. I’ll never look at a fly the same again.”
Another said: “So if a fly lands on my food for a bit before swatting it away, there's a chance it's puked on it? And then I eat said puke without knowing? Lovely. Just f**king lovely.”
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While a third commented: “Damn, I've been eating flies puke all my life.” What a delightful thought.
Meanwhile, others were concerned about what it meant for the ‘five second rule’ - you know the one, that it’s considered fine to eat something that’s been dropped to the ground as long as you pick it up within five seconds - asking: “How long after they land do they start the vomiting? I need a five second rule equivalent for this.”
A second person asked: “Now I need to know how quickly from the time they touch your food to when they start puking on it.”
According to a-z-animals.com, flies only throw up when they land on something they plan to eat and that is too hard for them to just suck right up in the first place - for example, if they land on decaying matter or feces they can just get going with the proboscis right away. OK, I think that’s quite internet for one day. See you all later.