FAMILY MUSCID.E 385 



would form a different family. Wing venation is not a character to be 

 used in separating families in this group, nor can the character of the 

 plumosity of the arista be used. 



The Muscida? are found everywhere and many of them are serious 

 pests. The raddish maggot, cabbage maggot, onion maggot, seed corn 

 maggot, and many others take annual toll of our crops. So much has 

 been M'ritten about the house fly as a carrier of disease that only a brief 

 review need be given here. Others are pests of domestic animals and 

 also pay attention to man. The Tse-tse flies, formerly considered as 

 belonging to this family, and not greatly distinct at best, are carriers 

 of trypanosomes causing sleeping sickness. 



Many entomologists believe that the House Fly {Musca domestica) 

 has been responsible for more human suffering than any other insect 

 and the evidence in support of this is very strong. It is said that 

 deaths due to diseases carried by flies have exceeded those caused by 

 wounds during the wars preceding the world war (1914-1918), whereas 

 during this latter conflict the mortality from such diseases was neg- 

 ligible, due to efficient sanitary practices. The House Fly breeds in 

 manure, garbage and almost any decaying matter and its control con- 

 sists of the screening and disposal of such material at frequent intervals. 

 Manure should he kept, as much as possible, either on such a maggot 

 trap as recommended by Hutchison*, sprayed occasionally with a mix- 

 ture of one pound of powdered helleliore to twenty gallons of water at' 

 the rate of one gallon of the spray to one cubic foot of manure, or 

 sprinkled with powdered borax at the rate of one pound to 16 cubic 

 feet of manure. The borax treatment must not be repeated, the fresh 

 manure being i)iled in such a way that it may be treated separately. 

 All garbage should be destroyed at least twice a week. 



Because the House Fly feeds on filth of all kinds and visits our 

 foodstuffs, alighting with impunity upon the things we w'ould eat, it 

 is particularly loathsome. It is attracted to almost anything that is 

 moist, such as sputum, feces, garbage, etc., and may fly directlj' from 

 any of these to food used for human consumption. The diseases carried 

 on its body (in the form of the causative organisms) are TypJwid Fever, 

 Dysentery, Cholera, Yaics, Anthrax and some forms of Conjunctivitis. 

 Many other bacteria, some of them undoubtedly capable of causing dis- 

 ease, are also carried. 



In addition to destroying the breeding places of flies efforts should 

 be made to i)revent them from coming in contact with foodstuffs by 

 screening all buildings. Sickrooms sliould be particularly well screened 

 in order to prevent flies from carrying the disease to other individuals. 



U. S. Dept. Agric. Bull. 200. 1915. 



