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You know that old saying that "home" is wherever you hang your hat (or fold your wings)? Same deal for flies. As far as we can tell, they take a load off in any number of places. Adult flies are diurnal. They buzz about when the day is nice and warm, and the garbage (one of their main sources of food) is especially stinky. They spend their time at the usual seedy spots -- on the bodies of dead animals, around piles of feces, or with some nice, decaying vegetation. Flies slow down at night, and though it's been the subject of some debate, it seems they do indeed sleep -- anywhere from 9 to 15 hours
a night. Where is anybody's guess. Most likely, they grab 40 winks in any dark, quiet spot they can. Flies lay their eggs in food-rich sources like the inside of trash cans or on pieces of rotting meat. Their young require a lot of sustenance -- those insatiable little maggots feed day and night. But don't be too hard on them. They're pretty much on their own without much parental supervision. Unlike many insects, flies don't have much need for permanent abodes. Perhaps it's because the little buggers have such short life spans. On average, the lives of flies can be measured in weeks, so maybe they prefer to spend their precious time scavenging for food and living for the moment.
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