THE HOUSE-FLY AND ITS NEAR 

 RELATIONS 



(Family Muscidce.) 



The insects of this family comprise what might be known 

 as the typical true flies. The bristle of the antennse is feathery 

 and the abdomen is smooth except for a certain number of 

 bristles near the tip. The larvae as a rule feed upon decaying 

 animal or vegetable matter, more abundantly upon animal than 



vegetable. The group 

 comprises many spe- 

 cies and includes some 

 of the most common 

 and abundant forms, 

 such as the house-fly 

 (Muse a domestica), the 

 horn-fly of cattle (Hce- 

 matobia serraia), the 

 stable-fly (Stomoxys 

 calcitrans), and some 

 of the so-called " blue- 

 bottle" flies. Certain 

 members of this group, 

 such as the horn-fly, 

 and the stable-fly (both 

 species having been in- 

 troduced from Europe) 

 are very annoying to 

 live stock and produce 

 great loss by their attacks. Many species of this group are of 

 much value as scavengers, destroying, through their great num- 

 ber and quick breeding, quantities of decaying animal matter, but 

 some of them are again injurious as appears from recent investi- 

 gations by virtue of the fact that they breed in human excrement 



166 



Fig. 93. — Haematobia serrata. 

 (From Insect Life.) 



