THE BITING HOUSE FLY 
241 
Dr. John B. Smith, at a meeting of the Entomolog¬ 
ical Society of Washington, once stated that these 
flies were very abundant at his house; that he had 
not been able to observe any increase in numbers in 
rainy weather, but on the contrary he had found 
them gradually becoming more abundant until at 
that time (November ist) they had almost replaced 
the common house fly, which was being rapidly killed 
off by the fungous disease mentioned in a previous 
chapter. 
Hewitt states that in England it is often found in 
houses, and he himself has found it in large numbers 
in the windows of a country house in March and April. 
He states that it is popularly known in England as the 
“storm fly” from its habit of seeking the shelter of 
houses during wet weather. 
Newstead states that in England (and the same con¬ 
ditions hold for this country) farm yards and stables 
are the favorite haunts of this fly, but that it occurs 
also in the fields and parks and open woods, especially 
where cattle are grazing. He has seen it resting on 
the shop fronts of the main streets of both Liverpool 
and Chester, and states that it is fond of resting on 
surfaces fully exposed to the sun and that painted sur¬ 
faces are also attractive to it. The greatest number 
he ever saw congregated together was on the sunny 
side of a red-painted iron tank at the old Chateau de 
Goumont, Waterloo, Belgium. At night, he states, 
they retire to some sheltered spot, and numbers may 
be found at rest on the beams and rafters in open sheds 
