Do you suppose flies or insects in general have a notion of family? Probably not. It was just a thought. I mean ants and bees have their communities but I can’t see flies and mosquitoes having communities.
I was thinking about this fly that was trapped in my car the other day. He/she finally got out miles from where we started and I wondered if when he got out, wondered where the heck he was. “I know I laid some eggs in the road kill in the street by the park, but nothing here looks at all familiar. I sure hope those eggs turn into healthy maggots and grow up to make me a proud fly parent.” I doubt anything like that goes through a fly brain. Although you wonder if someone like Saint Francis of Assisi would squash bugs and mosquitoes as he seemed to have a very exceptional appreciation of all of life and creation.
I was thinking if flies and mosquitoes had a sense of community they would have far greater regard for their lives. A fly with a family would have the wherewithal to get out of Dodge after someone shoos him away and goes for the fly swatter. Mosquitoes living in community would probably concentrate their blood seeking attacks on animals without the ability to squash them.
I’m glad crows have a posse they run with. Imagine if crows behaved like mosquitoes. All we need so some sort of Hitchcock like situation where crows give up on road kill and start ganging up on live things because they got nothing to lose. If they didn’t have their buds or family, they’d probably pluck out our eyeballs first and then chow down on some fresh flesh when we are defenseless.
I am not sure what the point of any of these observations is but I guess I wonder if our biggest failures as humanity reflect our inability to understand and see one another in community and in family. Do murder, war, assault reflect behavior more fly like than human? Perhaps what we need to do is emphasize the fact that we belong to a very large community comprised of numerous smaller connected communities.
