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236 I BANKS. 



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FLIES. 



Muscadiiomestica L., (The tj'phoid fiy) breeds almost exclusively in 

 l)i';y?§c"tnaniire, tliougii in the absence of this it will utilize cow or carabao 

 droppings. Other sjjeeies of Musca breed more indiscriminately and 

 many other of the Muscida^ taken in Taytay were found in decaying 

 vegetable and animal matter. 



In all, some 18 species of flies including 2 species of Tabanidaj (horse- 

 flies) were collected in the town. Individuals of many species of flies 

 were secured from the leaves of banana plants growing under trees 

 infected with Coccidfe. The honey dow voided upon the banana leaves 

 by the scale insects furnished an attractive food for the flies and I was 

 thus enabled to collect a considerable number. With the exception of 

 Musca domestica L., and Stomoxys calcitnins L., (the stable fly), which 

 are the two forms most common in the dwellings in Taytay, the remain- 

 ing species collected have been sent to Europe for determination and the 

 list will appear later. 



Aside from the nuisance of having large numbers of flies always 

 present in a town like Taytay and the menace to health which results 

 from the likelihood of their carrying different infectious diseases, there 

 is another phase of their presence which is not unworthy of considei a- ' 

 tion, especially as cases have already occurred with a certain degree of 

 frequency in other places in the Philippines. I refer to the constant 

 danger of infections by both adults and children with the larva; of 

 many of the Sarcophagidce. Indeed, numbers of cases of myiasis in 

 Americans in these Islands have been reported during the past ten years. 



BEDBUGS. 



{Cinu'x lectidarius h.) In only two instances were evidences of bed- 

 bugs noted in Taytay, both of these cases being found in houses in which 

 high beds were used. It is quite evident that this pest is not at all serious 

 in the town. In fact the majority of Filipino houses are quite free from 

 it, owing to the kind of sleeping paraphernalia used by the general class: 

 namely a petate or mat and a pillow. These articles are disturbed reg- 

 ularly at least twice a day and as they are frequently placed in the sun, 

 there is little chance for bedbugs to breed in them. The open floors of 

 Filipino houses and the ease with which they may be and are washed out, 

 make lodgement for these insects very precarious. 



ITEAD LICE. 



(Pediculm capitis De Geer.) Tliis insect is general in the Pliilip- 

 pines, occurring on the heads of both young and adult females, but only 

 very rarely on young males and then only on those who wear tbc bair 

 long and in a condition of (|uestionable cleanliness. Tlie lice are not 

 limited to any social class and children of the best families, by contact 

 "witii schoolmates and servants, acquire them readily. They are looked 



