THE CHEESE SKIPPEE AS A PEST IN CURED MEATS 6 



In 1775 Fabricius (21, p. 780) referred the species to the genus Musca, 

 later, in 1805 (22, p. 323), assigning it to the genus Tephritis, in 

 both instances under the specific name putris. The genus Piophila 

 was erected on this species by Fallen in 1820 (23), but in 1822 Kirby 

 and Spence (39, p. 229) referred it to the genus Tyrophaga; Curtis 

 (16, p. 126) used the same nomenclature four years later. In 1855 

 Schiner (68) reviewed the synonymy of the species and concluded, 

 that Piophila casei Fallen (23, p.*9)", P. atrata Meigen (48. p. 396), 

 and P. petasionis Dufour (19) were one and the same. Rondani 

 (65, p. 249), in 1874, stated that the casei of Linne (41), Fallen (23, 

 p. 9), Meigen (48, p. 395), Macquart (45, p. 541), Zetterstedt (83, 

 p. 2510; 82, p. 772), etc., was the same insect as the atrata of Fabri- 

 cius (22), Meigen (48, p. 396), Macquart (45, p. 542), and Zet- 

 terstedt (83, p. 2511; 82, p. 772) ; the vulgaris (in part) of Fallen 

 (23, p. 9) ; the petasionis of Dufour (19), and the putris (in part) 

 of Linne (41) and Scopoli (69, p. 337). The species affirds, treated 

 by Zetterstedt (83), and melanocera, referred to by Rondani (65), 

 are questionably synonymous in the opinion of Melander and Spuler 

 (49, pp. 69-70), recent reviewers of the sepsid and piophilid flies. 

 These writers listed and described 17 species of Piophila from North 

 America, and erected the family Piophilidae. 



The generic name has been misspelled in literature as follows: 

 By Riley (60) in 1870 as Peophila, by Megnin (47, p. 47) as Pyo- 

 phila; and again by Riley (63, p. 226) as Piophilus. Much of the 

 confusion in the nomenclature seems to have been due to the varia- 

 tion in size of larvae and adults, to the variety of food materials, 

 and to certain color variations. 



COMMON NAMES 



The earliest writers used the term " cheese worm," " cheese mag- 

 got." ' or " cheese mite. v the context, in the case of the last, leaving 

 no doubt as to the pest designated. Sw T ammerdam, in his extensive 

 treatise on this insect (73, pp. 63-75), used the title "Acarus or mite," 

 at the same time explaining that the true mite of cheese is an en- 

 tirely different pest. Unless accompanied by some descriptive mat- 

 ter, early references to " mites" of cheese in nonscientific literature 

 may refer either to the cheese skipper or to the acarids which infest 

 cheese. 



The following list includes the common names which appear in 

 the literature of P. casei, the first being that recommended for ex- 

 clusive use by the American Association of Economic Entomologists 

 (6, p. 524) : 



cheese skipper ham skipper 

 cheese-skipper ham fly- 

 cheese mite ham worm 

 cheese-fly* meat skipper 

 cheese-maggot skipper-fly 

 cheese skipper fly skipper 

 cheese and meat skipper jumper 

 cheese-maggot fly hopper 

 cheese and bacon hopper hopper maggot 

 cheese worm - mite-fly 

 cheese feeding fly bacon and cheese hopper-fly 

 cheese and bacon fly 



