sleeping sickness and other diseases, are native to Africa and do not occur in this 
country. A number of species in the genus Muscina are parasites of various species 
of Coleoptera. 
Family Hippoboscidae 
Louse Flies 
Louse flies may be winged or wingless. Many look like lice. The body is flat and 
leathery-looking, and the legs are short, strong, and broadly separated by the 
sternum. The tarsi are short and armed with strong claws, and the abdomen is 
saclike. All species feed on birds and mammals. The best known member of the 
family is the sheep ked, Melophagus ovinus (L.), an important parasite of sheep. 
Other important species are /costa americana (Leach)—parasitizes grouse, hawks, 
and owls; Olfersia fumipennis (Sahlberg)—attacks the bald eagle; species of Or- 
nithoica and Ornithomyia—teed on various small birds; and species of Lipop- 
tena—parasitize deer. 
Family Calliphoridae 
Blow Flies 
Blow flies have metallic blue, green, or yellow bodies and are usually about the 
size of house flies. The arista of the antenna is plumose at the tip and the hindmost 
posthumeral bristle is almost always longer than the presutural bristle. In the 
maggots, the posterior spiracles are flush. A few species are economic pests, but 
the majority serve a useful purpose in helping to rid the landscape of such 
undesirable materials as dead animal bodies and animal excrement. 
The screwworm, Cochliomyia hominivorax (Coquerel), a long-time pest of 
livestock in the Southwest, was first recorded from the Southeastern States in 1933. 
Since then, or until its eradication from the region through the mass release of 
sexually sterile males flies (735), it caused tremendous losses to livestock. Big 
game, such as deer, and smaller animals, such as raccoons, rabbits, and opossums, 
have also been attacked and injured. The female deposits up to 300 eggs around 
wounds; the maggots feed on the tissues, and produce foul-smelling wounds. This 
attracts additional flies and compounds the infestation. Heavily infested animals 
may die within a few weeks unless the maggots are killed and the wounds treated. 
Other blow flies occasionally attacking living animals include: Phaenicia se- 
ricata (Meigen), the greenbottle fly; the black blow fly, Phormia regina (Meigen); 
and the secondary screwworm, C. macellaria (F.). They also oviposit on wounds 
or sores. Larvae of the genus Protocalliphora are bloodsucking parasites of nes- 
tlings. 
Family Sarcophagidae 
Flesh Flies 
Larvae of this family feed on a wide variety of foods. A number of species are 
scavengers, feeding on dead insects, dung, and other decaying materials. Some 
species are parasitic in various insects. Adults are 6 to 12 mm long, the sides of the 
face are hairy, the aristae of the antennae are feathery for about half their length, 
there are three black stripes on the thorax, and the abdomen is checkered. The 
larvae have their posterior spiracles located in a pit. 
Sarcophaga aldrichi Parker, an important parasite of the forest tent caterpillar, 
occurs in southern Canada and from New England to the Lake States and Southern 
Appalachians. It significantly suppresses forest tent caterpillar outbreaks in the 
Lake States. Living young are normally deposited on cocoons and the larvae feed as 
scavengers on the prepupae or pupae inside the cocoons (576). Full-grown larvae 
are about 13 mm long. The adults are strong, active fliers; during tent caterpillar 
outbreaks, they may occur in enormous numbers, swarming over everything, 
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