INSECT FAUNA OF HUMAN EXCREMENT 



597 



matter. Still others feed upon decaying animal matter, while 

 others live in ants' nests. Still others are found in dung of 

 various animals. 



Syritta -pifiens Linn. 

 The larvae of insects of this genus live in horse dung and 

 cow dung in Europe. S. fifiens is found in Europe and North 

 America, extending clear to the Pacific coast, and it is also found 

 in Asia and Africa. It has been reported by Westwood as 

 breeding in horse dung and by Scholtz in cow dung. The only 

 specimen noted in the course of this investigation was taken in 

 a privy at Newport, Oregon, by Dr. A. D. Hopkins. 



Family PHORID^. 

 The small flies of this family, which are brownish in color 

 and hump-backed in shape, are occasionally found in houses. 

 The larvae feed on decaying vegetable and animal matter, such 



Fig. 37. Scatophaga furcata : male at right ; female at left, with enlarged 

 female antennae above — enlarged (original). 



as dead insects and snails, and are believed to be parasitic in 

 other insects. Some forms have been found breeding in cada- 

 vers and have some medico-legal importance. 



