214 



ALLIED MUSCID AND MISCELLANEOUS FLIES 



has the upper frontal region of the head, that is, between the eyes 

 and superior to the bases of the antennae an orange rufous colour. 

 The male is darker in colour, the dorsal side of the thorax being 

 blackish with three black longitudinal stripes ; the frontal region 

 is veiy narrow ; the abdomen is grey with a dark median stripe. 

 The average length of the body is o mm. 



Fig. 92. The Eoot Maggot Fly Antliomyia radicum Meig. Female, x 9. 



The flies are common in the summer and may be found in the 

 neighbourhood of manure. In a study which I made (1907) of 

 the life-history of this species it was found that the eggs were 

 very frequently deposited on horse manure which served as a 

 common breeding place for this fly. The insect's popular name 

 has been derived from the fact that the larvae also commonly 

 feed upon the roots of certain cultivated cruciferous plants such 

 as cabbages, radishes, etc. 



The eggs hatch out from eighteen to thirty-six hours after 

 deposition. The first larval stadium lasts twenty-four hours, the 

 second forty-eight hours, and five days later the larva changes 

 into a pupa, the whole larval life occupying about eight days. 

 The pupal stage lasts ten days, so that in warm weather the 

 development may be completed in nineteen to twenty days. The 



