OF HARTING. 439 



them that every expanded flower was literally swarm- 

 ing with maggots. 



Musca Ccesar and Musca vomitoria, better known as 

 Blow flies, are oviparous, and, " taking time by the 

 forelock," they commit their eggs to the fresh joints in 

 our larder, or the carcases of any recently killed 

 animals they may have access to, and as the larvae are 

 very soon hatched out, they not unfrequently consume 

 a considerable portion of their provender before it has 

 become offensive. 



Scatophaga stercoraria is that common yellowish- 

 brown fly frequenting the deposits of horses and 

 cattle, to which it commits its eggs. The latter are 

 curious oblong bodies furnished at one extremity with 

 two short arms projecting diagonally, one on each side, 

 the object of which is to prevent the eggs sinking too 

 deeply in the soft matter in which they are lodged. 

 There are several species of the genus, and many of 

 them may be seen intent on their prescribed duties in 

 cow yards and pastures from early spring till the 

 approach of winter. 



The Cheese-hopper, though literally without a leg 

 to stand on, is capable of taking tremendous leaps, as 

 we all know, and is ranked among the minor delicacies 

 of the table by many who, strangely enough, believe it 

 to be the spontaneous production of the cheese in 

 which it is found, but we willingly confess that to us 

 it is chiefly interesting as an entomological acrobat, 

 whose curious performances are faithfully described by 

 Kirby and Spence. The parent fly, Tyrophaga casei, 

 is a little greenish-black shining insect generally found 

 where the richest cheeses are stored. 



The history of the Bot flies, our next family, though 

 not a large one, is not less interesting. or wonderful 

 than that of any other group in the order. These 

 insects in the perfect state are totally destitute of 

 oral organs, the mouth itself in the majority of them 

 being obsolete, but their larvae are parasitic on many 



