The Respiratory System Special to Insects

Flies fly at extremely high speeds when compared to their size. Dragonflies can travel as fast as 25 mph (40 km/h). Even smaller insects can reach up to 31 mph (50km/h). These speeds are equivalent to humans traveling at the speed of thousands of miles per hour. Humans can only reach these speeds using jet planes. However, when one considers the size of jet planes in comparison to the size of humans it becomes clear that these flies actually fly faster than airplanes.

Jets use very special fuels to power their high-speed engines. The flight of flies, too, requires high levels of energy. There is also a need for large volumes of oxygen in order to burn this energy. The need for great amounts of oxygen is satisfied by an extraordinary respiratory system lodged within the bodies of flies and other insects.

This respiratory system works quite differently from ours. We take air into our lungs. Here, oxygen mixes with the blood and then is carried on to all parts of the body by the blood. The fly's need of oxygen is so high that there is no time to wait for the oxygen to be delivered to the body cells by the blood. To deal with this problem, there is a very special system. The air tubes in the insect's body carry the air to different parts of the fly's body. Just like the circulatory system in the body, there is an intricate and complex network of tubes (called the tracheal system) that delivers oxygen-containing air to every cell of the body.

Thanks to this system, the cells that make up the flight muscles take oxygen directly from these tubes. This system also helps to cool down the muscles which function at such high rates as 1000 cycles per second.

It is evident that this system is an example of creation. No coincidental process can explain an intricate design. It is also impossible for this system to have developed in phases as suggested by evolution. Unless the tracheal system is fully functional, no intermediate stage could be to the advantage of the creature, but on the contrary, would harm it by rendering its respiratory system non-functional.

There is an extraordinary design to even the least significant of creatures such as flies. Any single fly is a miracle that testifies to the flawless design in the creation of God. On the other hand, the "evolutionary process" espoused by Darwinism is far from explaining how a single system in a fly develops.

In the Qur'an, God invites all humans to consider this fact:

Humanity! An example has been made, so listen to it carefully. Those whom you call upon besides God are not even able to create a single fly, even if they were to join together to do it. And if a fly steals something from them, they cannot get it back. How feeble are both the seeker and the sought! (Qur'an, 22:73)