Insect Pests of House and Garden. 



665 



VII. Flies. 



Flies are among the most persistent and annoying of household pests. 

 Although they are so common and compel one's attention so often 

 during the summer months, there are several erroneous notions and 

 much ignorance concerning them. Many persons cannot tell how 

 many wings a house-fly has; housewives will often say that little flies 

 grow into big ones; it is a common notion that all flies bite; but few 

 know the winter habits of the house-fly, and not many know the life- 

 story and breeding habits of house-flies. The common house-fly is 

 scientifically named Miisca domestica, but there are several other kinds 

 of flies which are often found 



in houses. It is the stable- V y^ h 



fly which has mouth-parts 

 adapted for piercing the skin 

 or " biting," while the common 

 hoMse-fiy only scrapes or 

 tickles the skin. The duster- 

 fly or " buckwheat-fly " is a 

 frequent visitor in houses, and 

 is often found congregated in 

 large companies in attics or 

 little-used rooms in the fall or 

 winter. Most housewives are 

 also familiar with the large 



bluebottle or blowfly, which lays its eggs on exposed meat. Most of 

 these flies look alike to the housewife, and as they differ in size, the 

 conclusion is reached that the little ones grow into bigger ones, but in- 

 sects do not grow after they attain wings. 



The common house-fly (Fig. 29) breeds out of doors in manure and 

 dooryard filth, apparently preferring horse manure. Its long, white 

 eggs (6 in Fig. 29) which are laid on the manure, hatch the same day 

 into white maggots {c in Fig. 29), which feed on the manure for about 

 a week, and then change to a hard, brown puparium {d in Fig. 29), in- 

 side of which they transform through the pupae stage in five or six 

 days. Thus the whole life-cycle of the common house-fly, from the 

 laying of the egg to the appearance of the adult insect may take place 

 in from ten days to two weeks. As one fly may lay about 120 eggs, 

 it is easy to understand how the insect can develop in such enormous 

 numbers during the summer months. The manure from a single horse. 



Fig. 29. House-fly — (a) adult or fly; b) eggs; 

 (c) larva or maggot; (d) pnpariicm; all en- 

 larged. — {Adapted from Howard). 



