80 INSECTS. 



THE BLUEBOTTLE FLY. 



(Lucilia ccesar.) 



Characteristics. This is the loudly buzzing fly that 

 gets into our pantries and cellars. Its body, especially 

 its abdomen, is of a brilliant bluish-green color. It is 

 larger than the common house fly, and therefore better 

 for a first examination. 



If a bit of fresh meat be exposed out of doors in warm 

 weather, in a very few minutes a number of these flies 

 will be attracted to it. They may be taken with a net. 



Study of a Live Specimen. Note the sound of their 

 buzzing in ordinary flight. Then catch one, and, being 

 careful not to disable it in any way, 

 hold it by the feet, leaving its wings 

 free. Note that the buzzing is in a 

 higher key. Then hold both wings 

 and legs so that neither can move, 

 and note that the sound still con- 

 tinues, and that the pitch is again 

 BLUEBOTTLE FLY raised. This last sound is probably 

 produced by vibrations set up in the 

 spiracles by manipulation of the currents of air. 



Study its feeding habits. It is not shy : it will eat 

 freely from a bit of meat held with the fingers. Watch 

 it with a lens. Study the appearance and action of its 

 proboscis. Observe that it is somewhat two-jointed; that 

 the first joint is somewhat retractile into a cavity in the 

 base of the head; that the second joint folds up on the 

 first with a hingelike action when not in use; and that 

 the second joint ends in blunt expansion, which consists 

 of two flaps, that are separated in feeding, and applied to 

 the surface of the food. 



