FLIES AND OTHER HOUSEHOLD INSECTS 7 



prevalent nuisance. The stable fly^ may be rather abundant 

 about houses in the fall and is responsible for the persistent be- 

 lief that under certain conditions the house fly bites. Invariably 

 the offender is this inhabitant of the barn, a form v^hich pre- 

 sents an extremely close general resemblance to the fly and is 

 perhaps best recognized by its bite. Another fly liable to be 

 abundant about houses in the fall is known as the cluster fly^ 

 a species somev^hat larger than the house fly and easily recog- 

 nized by the yellowish hairs upon the thorax. The small, yel- 



Fig. 1 Typhoid or house fly ; a, male, seen from above ; 6, proboscis and palpus from 

 the side; c, tip of the antenna; d, head of female ; e, puparium ; /, tlie anterior breathing 

 pore or spiracle, all enlarged. (After Howard & Marlatt, U. S. Dep't Agric. Div. Ent 

 Bui. 4 n. s. 1896J 



lowish fruit fly,^ only about ^ of an inch long, is sometimes 

 rather abundant in houses and is invariably found in association 

 with overripe or decaying fruit. These species, though annoy- 

 ing and under certain conditions dangerous, are insignificant 

 offenders compared with the common house fly. 



Description. The Qgg of the house fly is a slender, whitish 

 object grooved on one side somewhat like a grain of wheat and 

 only 1/20 of an inch long. 



^Stomoxys calciirans Linn . 



-Pollenia rudis Fabr. 



^ D r o s o p h i 1 a am p e 1 o p h i 1 a Loew. 



