ZOOLOGICAL POSITION 5 



border it, while in the female of the house fly this 

 dark stripe almost touches the eyes. Autumnalis, like 

 its near relative, is almost cosmopolitan, but appears 

 to have been rarely met with in this country." 



Possibly a simpler way of putting it would be as 

 follows : 



Musca domcstica has four black lines on the back 

 of its thorax. All Sarcophagidae have three such black 

 lines. Most Tachinidee have four such black lines, 

 but the Tachinidse have the bristle of the antennae 

 smooth, whereas in Musca domestica this bristle is 

 feathered. From all Anthomyidae, Musca domestica 

 is at once separated by the bent vein near the tip of 

 the wing. Moreover, Musca domestica has no bristles 

 on the abdomen except at the tip which separates it 

 from all others except some Tachinids and many An- 

 thomyids, but from these it is separated by the char- 

 acters given above. 



Musca domestica is not alone in its genus. There 

 are fifteen species of the genus Musca according to 

 Bezzi and Stein in their Catalogue of the Palearctic 

 Diptera. In North America there are thirteen species 

 of Musca, according to Aldrich. Of none of these 

 other species of Musca do the habits appear to be 

 known. There is, however, an Indian species, Musca 

 cntccniata, which breeds in the same fecal masses with 

 the typhoid fly. 



