248 THE HOUSE FLY—DISEASE CARRIER 
probably swallowed them with uncooked vegetable 
food. 
The Stable Fly (Muscina stabulans Fall.) 
This is one of the flies which very much resemble 
the house fly, and is frequently mistaken for it. It be¬ 
longs to the same family and is of the same general 
color. It is not so abundant in houses as some of the 
others we have mentioned. In 1900, out of the 23,087 
flies collected in dining-rooms and kitchens in different 
parts of the country, thirty-seven belonged to this spe¬ 
cies. It is common throughout Europe, everywhere in 
the United States, and extends south to Argentina. 
In England it is said to be found in and near houses. 
Hewitt has found it occurring in early summer before 
the house fly has appeared in great numbers. It is 
somewhat larger than the true house fly, and is well 
shown in the accompanying figure, which also shows 
some of the structural details of both the adult and the 
larva. The adult may be at once distinguished from 
the house fly by the gradual curve of the vein reaching 
the tip of the wing, instead of the abrupt angle in the 
same vein in the house fly. 
The larvae of the stable fly live upon decaying sub¬ 
stances, fungi, etc., but it is recorded in Europe as 
feeding upon caterpillars and larval bees. Schiner 
states that it breeds in cow dung, and it has also been 
found in dead animals. In this country it feeds upon 
the dead chrysalids of insects, and has been reared from 
dying squash plants. The fly has also been reared from 
