Editing Fly (section)

===Flight===

{{Further|Insect flight}}

[[File:March-fly-in-flight.jpg|thumb|[[Horse-fly|Tabanid]] fly in [[Insect flight|flight]]]]

Flies are capable of great manoeuvrability during flight due to the presence of the halteres. These act as [[gyroscopic]] organs and are rapidly oscillated in time with the wings; they act as a balance and guidance system by providing rapid feedback to the wing-steering muscles, and flies deprived of their halteres are unable to fly. The wings and halteres move in synchrony but the amplitude of each wing beat is independent, allowing the fly to turn sideways.<ref name="Sane 2015">{{cite journal |last1=Deora |first1=Tanvi |last2=Singh |first2=Amit Kumar |last3=Sane |first3=Sanjay P. |title=Biomechanical basis of wing and haltere coordination in flies |journal=[[PNAS]] |date=3 February 2015 |volume=112 |issue=5 |pages=1481–1486 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1412279112 |pmid=25605915 |pmc=4321282|bibcode=2015PNAS..112.1481D |doi-access=free }}</ref> The wings of the fly are attached to two kinds of muscles, those used to power it and another set used for fine control.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Dickinson |first1=Michael H |last2=Tu |first2=Michael S |date=1997-03-01 |title=The function of dipteran flight muscle |journal=Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Physiology |volume=116 |issue=3 |pages=223–238 |doi=10.1016/S0300-9629(96)00162-4}}</ref>

Flies tend to fly in a straight line then make a rapid change in direction before continuing on a different straight path. The directional changes are called [[saccade]]s and typically involve an angle of 90°, being achieved in 50 milliseconds. They are initiated by visual stimuli as the fly observes an object, nerves then activate steering muscles in the thorax that cause a small change in wing stroke which generate sufficient torque to turn. Detecting this within four or five wingbeats, the halteres trigger a counter-turn and the fly heads off in a new direction.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Dickinson |first=Michael H. |year=2005 |title=The initiation and control of rapid flight manoeuvres in fruit flies |journal=Integrative and Comparative Biology |volume=45 |issue=2 |pages=274–281 |doi=10.1093/icb/45.2.274 |pmid=21676771 |s2cid=7306151 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

Flies have rapid reflexes that aid their escape from predators but their sustained flight speeds are low. [[Dolichopus pennatus|Dolichopodid]] flies in the genus ''Condylostylus'' respond in less than five milliseconds to camera flashes by taking flight.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1653/024.094.0240 |title=Faster than a flash: The fastest visual startle reflex response is found in a long-legged fly, ''Condylostylus'' sp. (Dolichopodidae) |journal=[[The Florida Entomologist]] |volume=94 |issue=2 |pages=367–369 |year=2011 |last1=Sourakov |first1=Andrei|s2cid=86502767 |doi-access=free }}</ref> In the past, the deer bot fly, ''[[Cephenemyia]]'', was claimed to be one of the fastest insects on the basis of an estimate made visually by [[Charles Henry Tyler Townsend|Charles Townsend]] in 1927.<ref>{{cite journal |title=On the ''Cephenemyia'' mechanism and the Daylight-Day circuit of the Earth by flight |last=Townsend |first=Charles H.T. |journal=Journal of the New York Entomological Society |volume=35 |issue=3 |year=1927 |pages=245–252 |jstor=25004207}}</ref> This claim, of speeds of 600 to 800 miles per hour, was regularly repeated until it was shown to be physically impossible as well as incorrect by Irving Langmuir. Langmuir suggested an estimated speed of 25 miles per hour.<ref>{{cite journal |journal=Science |volume=87 |issue=2254 |pages=233–234 |year=1938 |last=Langmuir |first=Irving |title=The speed of the deer fly |pmid=17770404 | doi=10.1126/science.87.2254.233| bibcode=1938Sci....87..233L }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Speed of ''Cephenemyia'' |last=Townsend |first=Charles H.T. |journal=Journal of the New York Entomological Society |volume=47 |issue=1 |year=1939 | pages=43–46 |jstor=25004791}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1093/ae/45.1.4 |title=Getting Up to Speed |journal=American Entomologist |volume=45 |pages=4–5 |year=1999 |last1=Berenbaum |first1=M.|doi-access=free }}</ref>

Although most flies live and fly close to the ground, a few are known to fly at heights and a few like ''Oscinella'' (Chloropidae) are known to be dispersed by winds at altitudes of up to 2,000&nbsp;ft and over long distances.<ref>{{cite journal |title=High altitude migration of ''Oscinella frit'' L. (Diptera: Chloropidae) |last1=Johnson |first1=C.G. |author2=Taylor, L.R. |author3=T.R.E. Southwood |journal=Journal of Animal Ecology |volume=31 |issue=2 |year=1962 |pages=373–383 |jstor=2148 |doi=10.2307/2148}}</ref> Some hover flies like ''Metasyrphus corollae'' have been known to undertake long flights in response to aphid population spurts.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2311.1984.tb00856.x |title=Why does the hoverfly ''Metasyrphus corollae'' migrate? |journal=Ecological Entomology |volume=9 |issue=3 |pages=329–335 |year=1984 |last1=Svensson |first1=BO G. |last2=Janzon |first2=Lars-ÅKE|s2cid=83629356 }}</ref>

Males of fly species such as ''[[Cuterebra]]'', many hover flies,<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.4039/Ent113695-8 |title=Territoriality in the Drone Fly, ''Eristalis tenax'' (Diptera: Syrphidae) |journal=The Canadian Entomologist |volume=113 |issue=8 |pages=695–704 |year=2012 |last1=Wellington |first1=W. G. |last2=Fitzpatrick |first2=Sheila M.|s2cid=86181761 }}</ref> bee flies (Bombyliidae)<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1007/BF01052332 |title=The mating system of a bee fly (Diptera: Bombyliidae). II. Factors affecting male territorial and mating success |journal=Journal of Insect Behavior |volume=3 |issue=5 |pages=619–636 |year=1990 |last1=Dodson |first1=Gary |last2=Yeates |first2=David|s2cid=25061334 }}</ref> and fruit flies (Tephritidae)<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite journal |doi=10.1163/156853909X410766 |title=Territorial contests within and between two species of flies (Diptera: Richardiidae) in the wild |journal=Behaviour |volume=146 |issue=2 |pages=245–262 |year=2009 |last1=Becerril-Morales |first1=Felipe |last2=Macías-Ordóñez |first2=Rogelio}}</ref> maintain territories within which they engage in aerial pursuit to drive away intruding males and other species.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/S0003-3472(83)80074-8 |title=Hilltop territoriality in a Sonoran desert bot fly (Diptera: Cuterebridae) |journal=Animal Behaviour |volume=31 |issue=2 |pages=518 |year=1983 |last1=Alcock |first1=John |last2=Schaefer |first2=John E.|s2cid=53180240 }}</ref> While these territories may be held by individual males, some species, such as ''[[Anopheles freeborni|A. freeborni]]'',<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Yuval |first1=B. |last2=Bouskila |first2=A. |date=1993-03-01 |title=Temporal dynamics of mating and predation in mosquito swarms|journal=Oecologia |volume=95 |issue=1 |pages=65–69 |doi=10.1007/BF00649508 |pmid=28313313|bibcode=1993Oecol..95...65Y |s2cid=22921039}}</ref> form [[lek mating|leks]] with many males aggregating in displays.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> Some flies maintain an airspace and still others form dense swarms that maintain a stationary location with respect to landmarks. Many flies mate in flight while swarming.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1146/annurev.en.14.010169.001415 |title=The swarming and mating flight of Diptera |journal=Annual Review of Entomology |volume=14 |pages=271–298 |year=1969 |last1=Downes |first1=J. A.}}</ref>