Is Flies the Plural of Fly?
WouterThe word fly is a plural form of the singular verb fly. It refers to a winged insect, as well as an airplane, bird, or other movement in the air. In English, the plural form of fly is flies, which is the more common spelling. The plural form follows the same rule as many other words ending in y.
Although flys is no longer commonly used in modern English, it was popular in nineteenth century England. It’s important to note that flys was the plural form of fly and was used in the 19th century. This spelling may have originated from the English idiom ‘flys.’
Fly is also the plural form of mosquito, a tiny flying insect that sometimes bites people. Other species of flies include midges and gnats, which are similar to mosquitoes but do not bite. They also can form large groups, called swarms. However, not all types of flies are referred to as “flies.” Other insects that bear the name fly include fireflies, dragonflies, damselflies, and some species of beetles.
True flies belong to the order Diptera, which is a family of insect life. True flies have a single pair of wings, and some species of house flies are wingless or secondarily wingless. In addition, true flies are social insects and live in colonies. They undergo complete metamorphosis during the life cycle. Their eggs hatch into grubs and pupae, which then develop into adult flies.
