270 
Insect Fauna of Hen Manure. 
BY j. FE. ILLINGWORTH. 
(Presented at the meeting of April 6, 1922. Se 
During 1916 the writer, while making some studies of the 
stick-tight flea (Echidnophaga gallinacea Westw.) upon poultry, 
became interested in the swarms of insects which were observed 
in and about the manure that had been removed from the hen- 
houses. In this instance, the droppings had been collected and 
stored in old kerosene tins, preparatory to placing on the garden. 
These stood in the open, so had collected considerable moisture 
from rains, etc., and in a few tins the contents had even become 
saturated. Yet conditions appeared to be ideal for the develop- 
ment of insects, for even these supersaturated contents were a 
writhing mass of larvae of various Diptera, etc., together with 
the various forms of predators and parasites that had gathered 
around to prey upon them. 
Since all exact information of the breeding habits of insects 
is valuable for reference, the writer thought it well to record 
all of the organisms that came under these observations. Nat- 
urally with the Hawaiian fauna, the great majority of dung- 
feeding insects are Diptera. Twelve species of flies were bred 
out from this material. Of the natural enemies of these—preda- 
tors and parasites—I was able to note fully twenty species. 
DIPTERA REARED; GIVEN IN THE ORDER OF ABUNDANCE. 
1. Sarcophaga fuscicauda Bottcher—This species I found 
also in North Queensland, where it proved exceedingly trouble- 
some about human habitations, breeding upon any available 
food or excrement. Its association with man in the tropics is 
almost as close as that of the house-fly, Musca domestica Linn., 
though it is more of an outdoor species, living primarily about 
camps, etc. Like the house-fly, too, this species is quick to 
follow along the lines of commerce, the indications being that 
it came to Hawaii either from Australia or from other Pacific 
countries to the west, during rather recent times. The earliest 
specimens in collections here bear date of 1905. Dr. R. R. 

Proc. Haw. Ent. Soc., V, No. 2, September, 1923. 
