HOUSE FLIES AND BLUEBOTTLES 175 



the wings of the present insect and Musca domestica, 

 may be compared. The chief difference will be seen 

 towards the tip of the wing. If the third nervure on 

 the disc of the wing in this part be compared in the 

 two, it will be found to make an obtusely angular bend 

 forward to the tip in Musca, but only to run forward to 

 the margin without any angular bend in Homalomyia. 

 This feature, taken in conjunction with the others here 

 mentioned, will greatly aid the identification of this little 

 fly. The male, which is by far the commoner sex, has 

 at the base of the abdomen large pale patches, which 

 are semi-transparent; hence, when the fly is sporting 

 about on the window-panes, as it delights to do, the 

 light shines completely through that part of the body, 

 the pale patches looking like windows provided for the 

 inspection of its internal anatomy. This little fly, 

 especially the male, delights to hover and sport about 

 in our rooms, and is exceedingly common. It has 

 brilliant red eyes in exquisite silvery settings, like its 

 larger relative, save that the colours are more intense. 



Of a more robust type than this, with broader and 

 shorter body than even the house fly proper, is an 

 insect which may be at once distinguished by the 

 curious shape of its proboscis, which projects straight 

 in front of its head like a sharp-pointed needle. It is a 

 far more troublesome creature than the other two, as a 

 glance at its vicious-looking proboscis would immediately 

 suggest. It is one of the so-called biting or stinging 

 flies, and has earned an evil reputation by its persistent 

 habit of piercing the skin for the purpose of sucking 

 blood. It will, of course, not be confounded with the 

 gnat or mosquito, which belongs to a totally diffe- 

 rent family, and one to which we are not now alluding. 

 This stinging fly is named, very descriptively, Stomoxys 



