14 



they are on the track of a solution of the difficulty. The possibility 

 of inoculation to render sheep immune to attacks, and the statement 

 that all sheep that become blown are in an unhealthy condition, have 

 not been borne out by field observations. Perfectly healthy animals 

 are liable to attack, if their wool be soiled or wet. In the first stages 

 of primary infestation the pest is entirely confined to the wool, not 

 even the skin being affected, but in the later stages of development 

 of the maggots, and often in cases of re-infestation, they break through 

 the skin, setting up intense irritation and inflammation. If the wool 

 be deodorised, and the odour which attracts the fhes dissipated, the 

 danger of reinfestation is greatly lessened. 



Froggatt (W. W.). Sheep Maggot 'Plies.—Agric. Gaz. N.S.W., 

 Sydney, xxv, no. 9, September 1914, pp. 756-758, 1 plate. 



This paper briefly describes the most common sheep maggot flies. 



Lucilia sericata, the English sheep fly, and the alhed L. caesar have 

 been long known in the coastal districts of New South Wales, and are 

 almost cosmopolitan, but only during 1913 have they been found 

 among the sheep in the western country. The fly is common in 

 Sydney, and although it will blow meat placed outside, seldom 

 enters the house in search of food, as does the common yellow 

 blow-fly. It feeds on all kinds of decaying animal and vegetable 

 matter, damaged fruit, offal and kitchen refuse, and congregates on 

 plants and shrubs where aphids or scale-insects are secreting 

 honeydew. This species, up to the present, is not common in live wool. 



CallipJiora ntfifacies, the green and blue sheep maggot fly, is common 

 all over the interior of Australia. Under natural conditions it deposits 

 its eggs on dead animals, and on evil-smelling wool on living sheep. 

 The maggots of this species are known as " hairy maggots." It is 

 the commonest species throughout the year, but is most numerous 

 during the summer months in the north and north-west. 



NeocallipJiora ochracea, the reddish-brown blow-fly, is somewhat rare 

 and nothing is known of its life-history ; it is found in the bush in 

 the vicinity of Sydney. 



The grey-striped fly, Sarcophaga aurifrons, belonging to the allied 

 family Sarcophagidae, has on two occasions been found in soiled 

 wool. The larvae are common in the summer months on dead sheep, 

 etc., and pupate in the soil beneath the carcase. 



Calliphora oceaniae, the smaller yellow house blow-fly, often enters 

 houses, and in the early part of the winter is very abundant in the 

 bush, where it oviposits on the soiled wool of sheep. 



C. villosa, the golden-haired blow-fly, like the last species, with 

 which it is often found in company, lays eggs in the winter, and living 

 larvae in the summer months. In the winter and early summer, these 

 flies attack sheep, and lay their eggs upon the soiled wool ; the 

 maggots feed upon the substances in the wool, and when full grown, 

 fall out of the fleece on to the ground, where they pupate below the 

 surface. 



