496 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. 



rot theory has recently appeared in Brattleborough, Vermont. 

 The mischief is referred to a fly, of which an authentic speci- 

 men is enclosed. It is said that the species first appeared 

 simultaneously with the potato-rot; and the flies are accused 

 of hovering about the manure, and depositing their eggs, so 

 that the larvae infect the potatoes." The specimen proved to 

 be a common dung-fly, which may be found in abundance 

 upon manure when carted into the field in the spring. The 

 male is easily distinguished from other flies by its yellow and 

 very hairy hind body and legs, and by its long and narrow 

 wings. It is about half as large as a honey-bee; and it 

 measures, from the face to the tips of the closed wings, from 

 two fiths to one half of an inch, or more. The females are 

 smaller, olive-colored, and sparingly clothed with short whitish 

 hairs, with legs and wings like those of the male. The maggots 

 or young, with the parent insects, live wholly upon dung, and 

 are innocent of any injury to plants. The accusation brought 

 against this insect entitles it to notice in this work, and to the 

 distinction of a name and character by which it may hereafter 

 be known. It may, therefore, be called Scatophaga fnrcata* 

 the forked dung-eater. The dung-flies, or Scatomyians (Sca- 

 TOMYZAD^), in some of their characters, resemble the flower- 

 flies, having similar wings, and very small winglets; but their 

 eyes are wide apart, and are of the same size in both sexes. 

 The fly in question keeps its body remarkably clean, notwith- 

 standing its dirty habits, and is neither offensive to the eye or 

 to the smell. The general color of the male is a bright ochre- 

 yellow. The antennae are pale red, and there is a wide forked 

 red spot on the top of the head. The thorax is obscurely 

 striped with brown above, and is lead-colored below the scutel. 

 The hind body is oblong oval, and covered with long ochre- 

 yellow hairs. The wings are ochre-yellow at the base and on 

 the outer margin ; and the two little transverse veins upon each 

 of them are very conspicuous from their dark color and dusky 

 borders. The legs are reddish yellow, and covered with long 



* Pyropa furcata, Say. " Journ. Acad. Nat. Sciences," Vol. III., p. 98. To 

 an imperfect specimen of this insect, Mr. Say gave the name of Scatophaga poa- 

 tilena, which it bears in the " Catalogue of the Insects of Massachusetts." 



