# Can flies fly in the rain?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-flies-fly-in-the-rain/373013>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 16, 2006, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-flies-fly-in-the-rain/373013 "2006-09-16T23:44:57Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![DaveRaver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daveraver/32/1078_2.png) [@DaveRaver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaveRaver)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2006, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-flies-fly-in-the-rain/373013/1 "2006-09-16T23:44:57Z")

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If they get their wings wet, can flies still fly?

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**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2006, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-flies-fly-in-the-rain/373013/2 "2006-09-16T23:52:16Z")

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I’ve seen it happen; for one thing, they don’t really get wet; most of their body surfaces are fairly waxy, so even if a raindrop strikes them directly, most of it just bounces off, but I think to a certain extent, the little bow shock wave travelling ahead of the raindrop tends to deflect them a bit.

in a torrential downpour, they’re going to be in big trouble if they try to fly, but they can do it in light, spotty rain with fair impunity.