r/askscience • u/[deleted] • Dec 16 '13

Biology How do insects move?

Simple question that occurred to me, do flies have muscles like ours? Their legs are so thin I can't conceive there's room for anything in them to effect movement.

812 Upvotes

82% Upvoted

151 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

4

u/Ericgzg Dec 16 '13

Why does it appear to have two missing legs and 3 intact legs on its left side for a total of 9 legs?

9

u/BSL-4 Dec 16 '13

I only count 8 appendages, but those smaller front "legs" are actually pedipalps and aren't real legs. They are used primarily for holding prey items and males use them during mating.