88 



PoRTCHiNSKY (I. A.). Myxa Bonb(J)apTa m en pyccKie copoflMHU. 



Eiojiorifi 3tom MyxH h SHaMGHie en r(na HenoetKa m ajia }\ov\a\u- 



HMXTj >KMBOTHblX"b. [WoMfahrlia magnifica, Schin., and allied 



Russian species. The biology of this fly and its importance to 



man and domestic animals.] — «Tpyflb! Biopo no SHTOMOJlorin 



yMCHaro KoMMTeia MMHHciepcTBa 3eMnefl-bji"m.» [Memoirs of 



the Bureau of Entomology of the Scientific Comtnittee of the Ministry 



of Agriculture], Petrograd, xi, no. 9, 1916, 108 pp., 39 figs., 2 plates. 



The author's previous work on Wohlfahrtia magnifica was published 



in 1874, 1875 and 1884 and first drew attention to the importance of 



this fly. The first part of this memoir deals with a number of cases of 



attacks on man by this insect. It is pointed out that even at the present 



time insufficient care is taken to identify the flies attacking man, 



and in many cases alleged to be due to Calliphora, Sarcophaga, etc., 



in the author's opinion, the real offender is W. magnifica. 



Many examples of myiasis in man caused by this fly are recorded 



and described from various parts of Russia, the ears, nose, etc., 



being most frequently attacked. The majority of cases occur in 



the hot weather from June to September. Within the auditory meatus 



the larvae usually penetrate into the walls and in rare cases they 



enter the cartilage. Cases of deafness resulting from the injury 



to the auditory meatus by the larvae and complete blocking of the 



meatus by inflammatory growths are not infrequent. Cases of myiasis 



of the eye are also common, and in one case 70 larvae extracted from 



one eye were sent to the author, although about half of those originally 



extracted were thrown away. As far back as 1770, a surgeon named 



Wohlfahrt described and figured larvae which he had extracted from 



the eye of a patient {Nova acta phys. med. Akad. Caes. Leop. Car. 



iv., 1770, p. 277) and the figures given by this author are excellent 



representations of the fly which now bears his name. For many 



years afterwards cases of myiasis due to this fly were attributed to 



Sarcophila latifrons, which really infests insects, principally locusts, 



or to Sarcophaga carnaria. 



Among domestic animals the larvae of W. magnifica usually infest 

 wounds on the bodies of cattle, horses, pigs, sheep, dogs and poultry, 

 especially geese. The smallest wound is immediately infested with 

 larvae, which soon enlarge it. In England, Holland and Denmark, 

 where W. magnifica is absent, animals are often attacked by Lucilia 

 sericata, Mg. ; this fly is present also in Russia, but it never attacks 

 animals there, being replaced by W. magnifica, whereas in the govern- 

 ment of Petrograd, where neither of these two flies exist, their place is 

 taken by Lucilia caesar, L. W. magnifica is particularly dangerous 

 in cases of epizootics such as foot and mouth disease, as it infests the 

 wounds on the feet and considerably increases the sufferings of the 

 animals. 



In dealing with the bionomics of this fly, it is stated that it only 

 attacks living animals and that the statement of Brauer that it usually 

 breeds in carcases and is only an occasional parasite of higher animals 

 is incorrect. In Europe, this fly is absent from England, Holland, 

 Denmark, Scandinavia, and the governments of Petrograd and 

 Finland in European Russia, while it is rare in some other northern 

 and north-western governments. Men are usually attacked in their 

 sleep and therefore such cases occur oftener in Russia, where the 



