484 THE STUDY OF INSECTS. 



members of this family as such. It is to be hoped that 

 other characters than those we now know for separating the 

 Calyptrate Muscidae from the Acalyptrate Muscidae will 

 soon be discovered. 



The Anthomyiids are very common flies. They are 

 found on leaves and flowers, and are also often found on win- 

 dows in our dwellings. The larvae of most species live in 

 decaying vegetable matter, a few are parasitic on other in- 

 sects, and some attack growing plants. Among the latter 

 are certain well-known pests infesting garden crops. The 

 more important of these are the following: — 



The Cabbage-root Maggot, Phorbia brassicce (Phor'bi-a 

 bras'si-cae). — This insect in its larval state feeds on the roots 

 of cabbage, radish, turnip, and cauliflower; it also attacks 

 the roots of various weeds belonging to the same family of 

 plants. It is one of the most serious pests that gardeners 

 have to contend with. 



The Onion-fly, Phorbia ceparum (P. ce-pa'rum). — The 

 larva of this species is often exceedingly destructive to 

 onions, consuming the bulb of the plant. 



The leaves of beet are often mined by maggots; and it 

 has been found that this injury is due to several species of 

 Anthomyiids. The most common of these is Pegomyia 

 vicina (Peg-o-my'i-a vi-ci'na). 



II. Acalyptrate Muscidae (Ac-a-lyp'trate). 



To this division of the Muscidae belong a very large 

 number of common flies. These vary greatly in form, and 

 represent a large number of distinct subfamilies. As a rule 

 cell III 5 of the wings is widely open (Fig. 591), and vein II 



may be either present or wanting. The alulets are usually 

 very small or rudimentary. 



The American species have not yet been sufficiently 

 studied to enable us to give a table for separating the sub- 

 families. We will merely refer, therefore, to a few of the 

 more important species. 



