Quagfly

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The Bug Collection
Quagfly
Habitat:Bogs, swamps, and marshlands.
Description:Less than half a thum in length, the quagfly is more akin to midges than houseflies. Its short squat body is dark olive green, with opaque back-slanted wings. Its eyes are laterally placed and multifaceted, capable of slight swiveling. A small ridge or hump just behind the head houses the muscles that power its rounded wings, which produce a rattling buzz as the insect launches. Tiny but sharp mandibles are located just beneath the eyes, and small maxillary ridges surrounding the mandibles act as incisors for cutting vegetation or flesh. The sharp ridges ooze a clear liquid that must aid in digestion.
Notes:Voracious feeders and prolific breeders, the quagfly is a very successful species, found in staggering numbers in its natural habitat. It feeds on almost anything, and its bites are painful and toxic, known to leave bleeding welts. As well as being omnivorous feeders, they are also the prey of almost all insectivores, particularly frogs, lizards, toads, birds, snakes, and limitless spiders and insects.

Grisly at it might seem, quagflies are particularly fearless to creatures trapped in quickmud, swarming the nostrils and mouth, often suffocating the hapless animal before the quag claims them.

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