AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 131 



The Hokn Fly. 



( Hcematobia Serrata, Robineau Desvoidy.) 

 Ord. Diptera : Fam. Muscidse. 

 We received the following letters regarding the occurrence of 

 the Horn Fly in Western Maine : 



Augusta, Aug. 27, '92. 

 Fkof. Harvey : 



My Dear Sir : — The Buffalo Horn Fly has been very trouble- 

 some in Fryeburg and vicinity, so much so that I have used 

 Kerosene Emulsion (Weed formula) on our cows to protect them 

 from their very sharp bites. 



Yours very truly, 



B. Walker McKeen. 

 North Fryeburg, Sept. 6, '92. 

 Prof. Harvey : 



Dear Sir : — We are having a visitation of the Horn Fly. Can 

 you give us any information in regard to them? They do not 

 appear to bite the cattle very much and do not annoy the horses 

 at all, but they come in immense numbers and over a large terri- 

 tory at once. Yours truly, 



Simeon Charles. 

 Remarks. 

 This is a European species first noticed in this country in 1887, 

 in the vicinity of Philadelphia. From that point it was spread 

 both to the north and south but more rapidly southward, and now 

 occurs from Canada to the Gulf, west to the prairie states and 

 Texas. The first report of its occurance in Maine was 

 September, 1882, in the vicinity of North Fryeburg, Western 

 Maine. We have not observed it in the Penobscot Valley. 



Below we give a condensed account of the life history and suph 

 remedies as have been suggested. Those who wish to study the 

 insect more in detail will find it considered in Insect Life, Vol. 4, 

 No. 2, Washington Government Printing Office, 1892, and in U. 

 S. Agrl. Rept., 1889, page 345. 



The flies resemble the house-fly in general appearance but are 

 only about half as large. While feeding the wings are spread at 

 an angle of about 60° (see Fig. d) and elevated. 



Life Histoey, 

 The reddish brown oval eggs Fig. a. are laid during the warmer 

 parts of the day, singly and usually upon their sides upon the 



