The Terrible Hairy Flightless Fly of Kenya

It may sound really bizarre, but scientists in Kenya have been on the trail of an extremely rare fly for years, in fact ever since it was first sighted in 1933, and then once again in 1948.

Given the nickname "terrible hairy fly", this is no ordinary fly however. It's about one centimeter long, has long hairy legs, and looks more like a spider than a fly. Even more bizarre, it's wings are non functional, so it can't actually fly.

No it's not April Fools Day, this is actually true, and if you check the source of this information there is a picture of the terrible hairy fly as well.

A number of expeditions have been to the site where it was previously seen, which is between the towns of Thika (as in the novel/miniseries "The Flame Trees Of Thika) and Garissa, but have previously been unable to find it again.

The fly seems to breed on bat feces, and is thought to only live in a cleft in an isolated rock, which is in the Ukazi Hills, and which is inhabited by a colony of bats.

The terrible hairy fly is so unusual in fact, that Dr. Robert Copeland, who is with the International Center of Insect Physiology and Ecology, based in Nairobi, says that they don't know exactly where to place it, as it doesn't fit anywhere into the existing order of diptera (true flies).

Since the fly can't actually "fly", and doesn't appear to have any means of clinging onto other animals, scientists are unable to determine how it might be able to transport itself to other locations and to propagate.

So as far as we know, living in a crack in a rock, in the middle of nowhere in Kenya, is a fly that can't actually fly, looks more like a spider, and which exists nowhere else in the world.

Now isn't that just bizarre! I wonder what Charles Darwin might have made of this.

Sources:

ABC News Australia