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MISC. PUBLICATION 631, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 



vein r 4+5 is setulose to cross vein r-m, cell r 5 is closed in the margin 

 or narrowly open, and a strong costal spine is present (fig. 13) ; and 

 the abdomen is terete, with strong erect marginal bristles on segments 

 2 to 4 and with black terminalia. 



TITANOGRYPHA ALATA (Aldrich) 



Synonym. — Sarcophaga melampyga var. alata Aldrich. 



Recognition Characters. — Adult : This species is distinguished from the only 

 other North American species, Titanogrypha melampyga (Aldrich), by the struc- 

 ture of the male genitalia. Larva : Only the first-stage larvae have been de- 

 scribed. The third to twelfth segments bear circlets of microspines on their 

 anterior margins, those of the third and fourth segments being widest and most 

 complete ; the mouth parts are unusually strong and large, the oral sclerite being 

 especially large and elongated. The larva of T. melampyga is unknown. 



Geographical Distribution. — Florida, southern Texas, and Cuba. The related 

 T. melampyga occurs as far north as New Jersey and Indiana, and westward to 

 Washington. Several other species have been described from the Neotropical 

 Region. 



Pathogenesis. — Townsend (164; pt. 2, p. 176; pt. 5, p. 219; and 

 pt. 12, p. 174 ) says that this species occasionally infests wounds, open 



Figure 13. — Titanogrypha alata, wing. 



sores, and diseased body openings of man and animals; he believes 

 that the head skeleton of the maggot, with its powerful mechanism 

 for tearing animal tissues, may indicate that it normally infests living 

 tissues. 



The Genus SARCOPHAGA Meigen 



This genus is undoubtedly a heterogeneous one. It is here main- 

 tained in its broad sense, not because, taxonomically, it should be so, 

 but because attempts to divide it are as yet so far from being generally 

 accepted that in such a work as this more confusion than order would 

 result from the adoption of such a division. Some of the restricted 

 generic uses more commonly found in the literature are indicated 

 under the synonymies of the individual species. 



In the sense here employed, /Sarcophaga contains a large number of 

 species of medium-sized gray or grayish flies, the abdomens of which 

 are marked with light and dark pollinose spots in a checkerboard 



