180 



ENTOMOLOGY FOR MEDICAL OFFICERS 



fly). The flies of this large family can usually be distin- 

 guished from MuscidcE, which they resemble closely, by the 

 course of the 4th longitudinal vein ; it runs straight to the 

 edge of the wing, rarely having any curve forwards, so that 

 the 1st posterior cell is widely open. From the Acalyptrate 

 Muscoidea, many of which have the same kind of wing- 



FlG. 69.— Wing of Anthomyid Fly. 



venation, they can be distinguished by the large squamae, 

 and usually, in the male, by the eyes being approximated. 

 The eggs are commonly laid on plants, in which the larvae 

 are parasitic, and the larvae thus do much damage in the 

 market-garden. The larvae of some species are parasitic in 

 insects and other animals. Those of Homolomyia canicularis 

 (a fly like a small house-fly, but easily distinguished by the 

 straight course of the 4th longitudinal vein) sometimes 

 find their way into the bowel, and even into the urinary 



passages, of man. The curious maggot of this species is 

 represented in Fig. 70. 



The adults of a species oi Lispa — a genus which is repre- 

 sented in many parts of the world — are said by Dr Atkinson 

 to catch and ebibe mosquito-larvje in Hongkong. Lispa 

 can be recognised by its wide front, its very broad, spooned 

 palpi, and its spotted abdomen. 



Family Tachinid^ (Tax(i'a = Taxt^9 = swift). The flies of 



