TWO WIXdKl) I XSPXTS 



{Diptird) 



\vv\Ys a^i) ill Berlin. in>- (Iciiii.in liimlliHly called me in as an expert to 

 tleeide a eontroversy hetween lier eliiidreii ami herself as to whether a frog 

 had four legs or six. It seemed strange to me then that a grown-iip woman 

 should not know the niiiiili<'r of a frog's legs. Yet there will lie many who 

 read these |)ages who do not know li(n\ inaiix' wings a \\y has. And Hies are 

 niiieh more ini])ortant than frogs. 



Ill fact the iiios(|uito and the house fl,\-. liotli in<-luded in the order of the 

 Hies. i)rol)al)ly cause more deaths and are more dangerous to liiinian lile than 

 any other creatures in the world. 



These ]iortraits are of a U-w onl>- of the \ast myriads of forms of two- 

 winged insects which haunt the world. Were I to |)hotogra|)h jiisl one iii- 

 di\ idual of each different species which inliahit the globe. I would liaxc to 

 spend a lifetime doing it, and when it was linished it would make \\\v hundr<'d 

 \()luiiics ahout the size of this one. 



There should never he the slightest <liHiciilly in telling a Hy from other 

 insects for there are no other t v.ii-w'ingccl forms. 



-Vlthougli the flies are sucking insects, their heaks lap up li(iui<l fodd and 

 are not at all like the licaks of the hugs. In the great iiiajoril,\ of flics, 

 the licaks resemlile a trunk with curious fleshy folds or lips. It is true 

 some species, like the mos(|uito, \\:\\v long, sharp-pointed stylets which, work- 

 ing up and down. i)uncture the skin of plants and animals. 



The larval forms of many Hies arc maggots, tho.se squirming, often almost 

 headless creatures that ahound in rotting carca.s.ses or decaying matter of all 

 kinds, and this is one of the reasons why less is known ahout tlie Hies than 

 alioilt some others of the insect world which ha\-e selected less rcxdltiiig 

 liirthplaces. 



Of course, in such a gigantic family no general rules ai)pl.\'. and still, a 

 maggot, whether in an orange or a dead horse, is most likel>- to he the 

 lar\'a of a <lii)tcra or two-winged insect. 



1M9 I 



