A Cultural and Natural History of the Fly

T heater of Insects, an entomology book from 1658, refers to fl ies as " little creatures so hateful to all men. " Most people's attitude towards dipterans has not changed much since, but maybe Steven Connor's excellent new book about the role of fl ies in culture and myth will help transform the fl y's reputation. In Fly, Connor tells us that the fl y is loathed universally because it " takes its pleasure promiscuously, restlessly, unswervably, unashamedly. " Flies trample on their food and are so single-minded when it comes to reproducing that Aristotle remarked on the diffi culty of pulling copulating fl ies apart. This carefree lifestyle offended human sensibilities. Flies became subjects for moral allegories about the consequences of pleasure-driven lives that often end with fl ies singed in fl ames or drowned in wine. Flies seem especially irresponsible when compared with social insects: ants and bees collect food and store it for the future or to feed their young and—at least the infertile workers—never copulate. Because of their frivolous life, fl ies were used to signify sin throughout history. The capacity to command fl ies is the mark of the devil. Satan's lieutenant Beelzebub—the lord of the fl ies—is portrayed in a drawing from 1863 (reproduced in Fly) as a fi erce fl y-like creature with the skull and crossbones symbol on its wings. Satan himself, as well as many alleged witches and even Loki, the Nordic god of mischief, all change occasionally into fl ies. In their fl y form, they have access to houses where they steal, torment, and seduce. The situation became even worse for fl ies when their role in transmitting diseases was discovered in the 19th century. A ruthless campaign for their extermination was started and books like The House Fly: A Slayer of Men and The Reduction of Domestic Flies urged readers to consider killing fl ies a moral duty. Yet for all the aspersions cast upon the fl y, the very qualities that inspired derision also stirred affection and respect. For the same reasons for which they were demonized, fl ies were sometimes poetically elevated to a symbol of liberty because " Each fl y is king of his own country. He knows no laws or conventions…He has no work to do—no tyrannical instinct to obey… what freedom is like his? " For many scientists, the word " …