If flies do eat, what do they eat?
by 
Billy Mays
ANSWERS: 3
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They nibble on crumbs and even on trash, or so is the rumor.
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"Flies cannot chew. They have to suck up their food. Flies have mouth parts that absorb food like a sponge. Their food has to be in a liquid form in order for them to eat it. They have a tongue shaped like a drinking straw to slurp up their meals. Flies that eat nectar or blood do so by using their tongue which is called a proboscis. Even flies that eat other insects do so by sucking out the insides of their victims. When a housefly lands on our food, it vomits on the food. The digestive juices, enzymes, and saliva in the vomit begin to break down and dissolve the food. The fly can then suck up the liquid food with its sponge-like mouth parts and its proboscis. If flies eat food from garbage cans or any other source of germy food, some of those germs stick to the fly's mouthparts and when the fly vomits on its next snack (your sandwich?), it transfers some of those germs" http://www.uen.org/utahlink/activities/view_activity.cgi?activity_id=1026 That's a comforting thought! :P
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Depends on the species of fly, house flies eat rotting fruit, manure, our garbage, etc, by spitting on it. Their saliva dissolves the food then they suck it up. Sanguivorous or blood-sucking flies such as horseflies and deerflies, drink (you guessed it) blood.
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