FLIES. 
(TW O-WINGED.) 
House Fly. Musca domestica, Linn. 
Musca DoMEsTIcA.—1 and 2, fly, magnified and nat. size; 3, wing, much magnified ; 
4, chrysalis, and 5, larva, magnified, with lines showing natural length. 
House Flies may fairly be noticed in connection with agricultural 
pests, as, independently of the annoyance they cause to our animals 
as well as to ourselves, one of the great quarters from which they 
come to trouble us is horse manure. Year by year enquiries are sent 
to myself as to their life-history; and for a clear and trustworthy 
detailed account in our own language, the only publication to which I 
am able to refer my applicants is the very useful volume by Mr. Edw. 
A. Butler on these and other household insects referred to below.* 
Still much has been written on them by various home and continental 
observers of practical as well as scientific interest; and without myself 
venturing to offer an opinion on the subject, it seems to me that it 
may be very useful to give some extracts to show that though we have 
proof that this species (Musca domestica) especially occurs from eggs 
developed up to fly condition in horse manure, yet that it is considered, 
on the authority of well-known observers, as also passing its early 
stages in various kinds of putrid matters, which therefore require 
attention. 
Several other kinds of flies are very commonly to be found in our 
houses, including amongst these Stomoxys calcitrans, sometimes called 
the ‘ Stinging Fly,” which can give a painfully sharp prick by means 
of a needle-like proboscis projecting straight forward, and of which 
the maggots live in fresh horse-dung. 
* «Our Household Insects.’ London and New York: Longmans, Green & Co. 1893. 
