214 POPULAR ENTOMOLOGY. 



DIPTERA. Muscmss. 



PIOPHILA. 



Generic Distinctions. Antennae small, with a single bristle ; head 

 roundish, without a frontal projection; legs moderately long and 

 slender. 



PIOPHILA CASEI. Cheese Fly. This insect in its larva 

 state is a small fleshy grub, of an elongated form and white 

 colour, found in decaying cheese. Epicures do not hesitate 

 to eat these little creatures, thinking that they are bred 

 spontaneously from the best parts of the cheese, whereas 

 they are produced from eggs laid by the parent Fly, in a 

 similar manner to the Blow Fly, from whose offspring on 

 their meat these lovers of good eating would turn away 

 with disgust. The Fly is about the size of the common 

 House Fly, of a shining, blackish-green colour, with trans- 

 parent wings ; the legs are varied with black and ochre ; 

 the female is provided with an ovipositor, with which she 

 pierces the cheese, and deposits an egg in the hole ; these 

 are soon hatched, and feed on the cheese during the larva 

 state. When they have acquired their full size, they lea.ve 

 their food and undergo the transformation into a chrysalis ; 

 and after remaining in this state for some time, the enclosed 

 Fly breaks that part of the outer covering which defends 



