80 PROCEEDINGS OP THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF QUEENSLAND. 



7 to 10 in winter. The pupal period is usually 7 days except 

 during \^inter months when it may be twice as long. The time 

 elapsing between the deposition of the egg and the emergence 

 of the fly is generally about 13 days during summer, 15 days 

 in spring and autumn, but considerably longer in winter. 

 Generally about 8 days elapse between emergence of the 

 adult and its subsequent ovi position. Longevity in captivity 

 is usually about 20 days. Copulation may occur Avhilst on 

 the ^ving and last only a few seconds or it may take place 

 while the insects are resting and is then prolonged. 



Froggatt (1913, pp. 25, 29) mentioned that in New South 

 Wales eggs hatched out within a day (six hours in December) 

 after having been laid ; that maggots were full}' fed on meat 

 in 6 or 7 days after hatching, pupating in the soil beneath ; 

 and that flies emerged on the sixth day after commencement 

 of pupation. The period from oviposition to emergence was 

 thus about 12 or 13 days in summer, which corresponds \rith 

 our observations in Brisbane during summer. In an earUer 

 paper (1905, p. 17) he had stated that the larval stages occupied 

 about a fortnight. 



A series of observations regarding the pupating habit of 

 this fly was pubHshed recently by us (J. & T. 1921, pp. 114-5 ; 

 1922, p. 130). 



Bishopp and Laake (1915, p. 473) as a result of observa- 

 tions at Dallas, Eastern Texas, reported that hatching required 

 from less than 24 hours to 7 days; the larval period 4 to 9 days 

 in summer, but from 3 to 4 months during late autumn and 

 winter ; the pupal period about 5 days in summer but from 

 24 days to 5 months in winter ; the total developmental 

 period 11 to 15 days in summer increasing to from 4 to 6 months 

 during late autumn and winter ; longevity of adults in cap- 

 tivity 10 to 40 days ; emergence to egg-laying 4 to 21 days. 



Bishopp, Mitchell, and Parman (1917) recorded that 

 L. sericata appeared during the warmer days of spring and 

 persisted through the summer in U.S.A., where it took about 

 as long to pass through its development as did the common 

 black wool-maggot fly, Phormia regina Meigen, viz. about 

 11 to 15 days from egg to emergence of the adult fly. 



In regard to a related fly, Lucilia ccesar, Herms (1915) stated 

 that the egg period was from 6 to 48 hours ; the larval feeding 

 stage 3 to 7 (generally 5) days ; the larval resting or prepupal 

 stage usually 6 ; the pupal 8 to 34 (commonly 12) days ; the 

 total number of days elapsing betw § n egg deposition and 



