2^+8 



Larvae of 0. aenesoens in vermiculite became very active when larvae 

 of M. domestica were added, but did not chase M. domestica larvae as 

 described by Anderson and Poorbaugh (1964b). The nature of house fly 

 larvae to congregate around and feed upon the dead of their own kind was 

 also observed in the 0. aenesoens experiments. 



When larvae of 0. leucostoma were reared with house fly larvae in 

 nutrient medium, 0. leucostoma killed as many house flies as when the two 

 species were reared together in vermiculite. This indicated the prefer- 

 ence of 0. leuoostoma for house flies over the constituents of the 

 nutrient medium (Anderson and Poorbaugh, 1964b). This was not the case 

 with 0. aenesoens, as indicated by the competition study. 



Morphological Proof that Ophyra aenesoens is Predaceous 



Seguy (1923) stated that larvae of Ophyra are predaceous but gave 

 no reasons to substantiate the claim. Morphological evidence was pre- 

 sented by Keilin and Tate (1930) who showed that larvae of 0. leucostoma 

 are predaceous and saprophagous . 



The morphological features of the cepha loskel eton of 0. aenesoens 

 are comparable to those of 0. leucostoma. The accessory oral sclerites 

 and the longitudinal ridges on the venter of the basal sclerite indicate 

 that larvae of 0. aenesoens are predaceous and saprophagous. The cephalo- 

 skeleton of M. domestica lacks the accessory oral sclerites, but ridges 

 are present on the venter of the basal sclerite. Larvae with these 

 characteristics are saprophagous but not predaceous (Keilin and Tate, 

 1930) . 



