Tiny, but Deadly
When you think about dangerous animals, do you think of fierce sharks and hungry lions? You should also think about another dangerous animal—the common housefly. Why? Because flies carry germs, and some germs cause disease!
Flies taste things with their feet. As they walk over all kinds of rotting foods and plants, they collect germs on their feet. Then they land on fresh food, leaving germs everywhere.
Flies also spread germs when they eat. A fly can eat only liquids. It pumps a special juice from its stomach that turns food into liquid. The fly might suck up food that has germs in it. This means some of the germs get into the fly’s stomach. If the fly pumps some stomach juice onto the sugar on your table, the germs get into the sugar. And if you eat the sugar, the germs get into you!
The mosquito can also be a dangerous enemy. Female mosquitoes drink people’s blood! They break the skin and suck the blood with their female mosquito long mouthparts, leaving an itchy bite. Sometimes, when mosquitoes drink blood, they inject tiny germs into the bloodstream. The germs mosquitoes carry can cause serious diseases.