314 The Ohio Naturalist. [Vol. XIV, No. 7, 



Miss Murtfeldt was unable to get the female to oviposit on 

 flesh meat of any kind. In the writer's experience, fresh beef- 

 steak with a slightly putrid odor seemed to be the most desirable. 

 Copulation was observed on the 3rd or 4th day after emergence 

 of the imago and egg deposition on the third day after copulation. 

 The adults lived from 4 to 10 days, the fomier being the length of 

 life of flies without food and moisture, except at beginning; the 

 latter, the length of life of flies in a small vial, containing slightly 

 putrid steak and plenty of moisture. The females outlived the 

 males. 



Because of its breeding habits and the ease with which it is 

 kept in captivity, this species should make a suitable one for the 

 experimental zoologist. A few observations and inconclusive 

 experiments were made en the reaction of the fly to heat, light, 

 gravity and dift'erent food substances. When a jar of flies was 

 placed near the window the majority gathered on the lighter side 

 After shaking or otherwise disturbing the same reaction followed. 

 They also almost invariably alight with head pointing upward. 

 They can be transferred from one vial to another by holding the 

 bottom of the empty one towards the light. Deadened by cold, 

 they can be revived by heat. 



The following is a report of an experiment to test the com- 

 parative value of cheese, bacon, fresh beef -steak and ham as an 

 attraction for the flies. The apparatus consisted of 7 vials and 

 corks thru which were fitted glass tubes with lumens large enuf 

 for the admission of the flies. One of the vials contained cheese; 

 one fresh lean steak; one fresh fat steak; one fat bacon; one lean 

 bacon, one fat ham, one lean ham. The vials were placed in holes 

 in a circular piece cf card-board and this card-board containing 

 the vials was placed in a large jar. About GO flies were admitted 

 from the stock culture, the jar was then covered with a glass 

 plate and placed so that the openings of the tubes leading into 

 the vials would face the light. The flics immediately swanned 

 upon the glass cover which was facing the window. On the after- 

 noon of the first day there were three files in the vial containing the 

 cheese, one in the vial containing the lean ham and one in the 

 vial containing the fat ham. At noon on the second day there was 

 one fly in the fresh lean steak vial, one in the fresh fat steak vial, 

 four in the cheese vial, six in the fat ham vial and three in the lean 

 ham vial. On the afternoon of the second day there were five 

 in the fresh lean steak vial, two in the fresh fat steak vial, 5 in the 

 cheese vial, 7 in the fat ham vial and 3 in the lean ham. The steak 

 from which the fat and lean pieces in the vials was taken, was 

 observed at this time to be giving off a slightly putrid odor. At 

 noon on the 3rd day, there were 12 flies in the lean fresh meat 

 vial, 4 in tlie fat fresh meat vial, S in the fat ham vial, 2 in the lean 

 ham vial and 5 in llie cheese vial. At noon on the r)th da\' the 



