- This article is about the insect. For the act of flying, see flight.
A fly is any of various small insects of the order Diptera, some of which land on food and carry germs. Not as nasty as a cockroach, but more mobile. Other flies bite horses. The larva of a fly is called a maggot. Some maggots which eat dead but not live flesh have been used medicinally, being introduced into wounds to clean them. Other maggots, such as the screwworm[?], eat live flesh.
The word "fly" also refers to insects of various other orders: