# flies and poop
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flies-and-poop/21066
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [June 1, 2000, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flies-and-poop/21066 "2000-06-01T01:19:43Z")
**Posts on this page:** 15
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Milossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milossarian)
#### Post date: [June 1, 2000, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flies-and-poop/21066/1 "2000-06-01T01:19:43Z")
Why do flies seem to be more interested in poop than other insects?
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### Author:  [@psycat90](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psycat90)
#### Post date: [June 1, 2000, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flies-and-poop/21066/2 "2000-06-01T01:27:58Z")
I’ll stab at this, though I will prolly be wrong.
I once put one of those sticky tape fly trap thingies in a garage. I read the label beeforehand and noted that the flies were supposedly attracted to it because it gave of the mating scent of a fly. Well, you guessed it, it smelled just like poop.
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### Author:  [@Wood\_Thrush](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wood_Thrush)
#### Post date: [June 1, 2000, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flies-and-poop/21066/3 "2000-06-01T01:38:31Z")
I have two hypotheses[ul]
[li]They lay their eggs in the … um … feces.[/li][li]They eat shi—[/li]er, digest … matter … in the …um … droppings.
[/ul]
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### Author:  [@brachyrhynchos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brachyrhynchos)
#### Post date: [June 1, 2000, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flies-and-poop/21066/4 "2000-06-01T01:59:28Z")
What about dung beetles? They’re so happy about the stuff that they roll balls of poop while doing handstands. And these they give to their kids (and we thought OUR parents were feeding us a line of crap).
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### Author:  [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)
#### Post date: [June 1, 2000, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flies-and-poop/21066/5 "2000-06-01T13:44:23Z")
Well, the first thing we have to do is ask ourselves the basic question:
[William Shatner School of Acting mode]
“What… is… poop?!”
[/WSSA mode]
The simple answer may be as close as your lawn, if you have a dog. Those dense, lush, green clumps of grass marking the spots of Dooky Long Past show that poop is full of materials that dogs (and by extension, we all) either didn’t or couldn’t digest.
(Enter stocky fly with “COLLEGE” sweatshirt on)
“FOOD MINE!!!”
Yes, that’s right, folks, poop is a veritable cornucopia of nutrients just waiting for the kind of vegetable or animal matter that can digest this bountiful harvest to come along. Good for adult flies seeking the late afternoon snack, absolutely perfect for that growing grub who needs every ounce of fecal goodness a warm, stinking dogpile can provide.
So flies are more interested in poop than other insects 'cos flies are able to digest whatever nutrients are in it. Yeah, **Wood Thrush** answered it before I did, but sometimes brevity just doesn’t cut it for answers like this.
Oh, before I go… I find it pretty funny that someone named “Thrush” decided to answer this thread… after all, the Latin for ‘thrush’ is _turdus_.
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### Author:  [@JCorre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JCorre)
#### Post date: [June 1, 2000, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flies-and-poop/21066/6 "2000-06-01T17:39:15Z")
Two flies are sitting on some poop. One of the flies farts. The other fly says ‘Hey! I’m eating here!’
Sorry, I know that doesn’t help but it seemed apt for this thread.
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### Author:  [@Milossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milossarian)
#### Post date: [June 1, 2000, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flies-and-poop/21066/7 "2000-06-01T17:42:14Z")
That’s OK, JCorre.
I vaguely recall a bumper sticker that said
“EAT SHIT: 10 billion flies can’t be wrong”
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### Author:  [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)
#### Post date: [June 1, 2000, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flies-and-poop/21066/8 "2000-06-01T17:48:37Z")
I think most substances that give off a lot of good, high-protein scent are attractive to flies. Check out:
[http://www.stinkymeat.net/stink\_generator.cgi?DAY=1](http://www.stinkymeat.net/stink_generator.cgi?DAY=1)
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### Author:  [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)
#### Post date: [June 1, 2000, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flies-and-poop/21066/9 "2000-06-01T18:02:06Z")
Sofaking, I think you’ve got a winner for Weird Earl’s. Go nominate the stinky meat page!
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### Author:  [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)
#### Post date: [June 1, 2000, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flies-and-poop/21066/10 "2000-06-01T18:52:39Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Two flies are sitting on some poop. One of the flies farts. The other fly says ‘Hey! I’m eating here!’
A fly is sitting on a piece of poop. Another fly comes along, points to another piece of poop, and says, “Excuse me, is this stool taken?”
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### Author:  [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)
#### Post date: [June 1, 2000, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flies-and-poop/21066/11 "2000-06-01T19:24:56Z")
Well, since it was a technical question (sort of) and peope are running around here saying “piece of poop”, which sounds more or less kindergartenish, I thought [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=4187) should be thrown back into the mix.
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### Author:  [@funneefarmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/funneefarmer)
#### Post date: [June 1, 2000, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flies-and-poop/21066/12 "2000-06-01T21:16:24Z")
Well, I think also that the flies are more likely to be seen than the other bugs that feed on feces. Trust me, I’ve dealt with more than my share of cow pie in various stages of decay. Flies, bees, grubs and many other creepy crawlers especially after it has a nice crust on it but it is still mushy in the middle. Flies are just the ones you see the most. Get yourself into a nice cow pasture and start stirring those pies up with a stick (mmmm, $h!t on a stick). You’ll get a nice variety of bugs not just the stuff you see flying around on top.
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### Author:  [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)
#### Post date: [June 1, 2000, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flies-and-poop/21066/13 "2000-06-01T23:40:24Z")
In my area, flies love seaweed far more. Ever been to the beach & see zillions of them on the seaweed? Yep. No poop there either.
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### Author:  [@Wood\_Thrush](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wood_Thrush)
#### Post date: [June 2, 2000, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flies-and-poop/21066/14 "2000-06-02T03:10:38Z")
It is **handy** whom I
> [@](#):
>
> \*\*In my area, flies love seaweed far more. Ever been to the beach & see zillions of them on the seaweed? Yep. No poop there either.
> \*\*
Are you sure they are houseflies?
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### Author:  [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)
#### Post date: [June 2, 2000, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flies-and-poop/21066/15 "2000-06-02T15:35:51Z")
Wood Thrush, Ill have to take a closer look, not that I would want to 🙂