<S4 Ohiiervation^ on the Hahits of Certain Flies 



part of the animal still remained, forming a moist evil smelling mass of 

 hair and rotten flesh. This would suggest that the larvae in pipe 2 died 

 for some reason, which would account for the comparatively low numbers 

 of pupae found and flies caught from it. 



Owing to unavoidable delay (4 months) in opening the pipes, it is 

 possible that a number of pupa cases and bodies of adult flies had rotted 

 beyond recognition. Only five bodies of adult flies were found and they 

 were much decayed. Thiee of these bodies were found in the loose clay, 

 being between the 1 inch and 3 inch levels, and probably had died of 

 exhaustion, whilst of the other two, one was found between the 30 and 

 30 inch levels, and the other between the 40 and 48 inch levels. The 

 fifth was found in the rammed clay between 42 and 36 inch levels. 



Some of the pupae which were found at the lower levels were ill- 

 formed, but those in pipes 8, 2 and 3 were normal healthy ones. Only 

 five were found to have been parasitised, though some of those which 

 had disintegrated may have been so. 



From this experiment two facts seem evident, namely, (1) flies are 

 able to develope from larvae which have been buried as deep as 4 feet, 

 and that it is, therefore, useless to bury larvae-infected material, even 

 at that depth, to prevent fly developement; and (2) the majority of 

 larvae (90 per cent, in this experiment) make their way up to within a 

 foot of the surface of the soil before pupating. 



Table II. 



Sho2ving numhers of flies which emerged between July 1st and Angnst 28th, 



1917, though their larvae had' been buried ivithin food material four feet 



beloiv the surface of ground. 



Loam Sand Clay (dryish) 



Loose Rammed Loose Rammed Loose Rammed 

 1 2 .3 4 5 (! 



Callipliora erythrocepltala 104 100 5 .5 1(11 127 2(iG 407 348 341 91 102 



vomitoria 10 21 2 1 .T 18 44 57 93 — 1 



Lucilia cnesar 1 1 — — 4 7 19 29 5 4 



sericata 1 2 — — G 7 38 2G G — 



Hydrotaeu dcntipeH — ,31 4 — — — — — — 



Muscina stabulans — — — — — — — — — — — G 



„ pabulorutn — — — — — — — 1 — — 



Small Anthomyiddf — — — — 1 — — — — 



? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 1 1 



Totals (sexes) 1 IG 130 7 5 193 13G 294 4GG 462 490 103 114 



Total flies 24G 12 329 7<i0 952 217 



2510 



