710 JOUR}^AL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXV Hi. 
are deposited, the eggs having hatched within the body of the parent 
fly. In this respect the same conditions prevail as in some Sarcop- 
hagidcB and some Tachinidw. The typical Muscidse are house-flies, 
blue-bottles and blow-flics. In the sub-family Calliphorince there 
are several grades of parasitism. All the species are oviparous, 
so far as we know, and usually the eggs are deposited on dead 
bodies. The stages towards parasitic habits are as follows ; — 
(a) Some flies will occasionally lay their eggs in sores on the 
skin of living animals where the larvae can feed on the juices that 
surround them. The larvae of Calliphora vomitoria L. a com- 
mon European and American member of the blue-bottle genus, 
occasionally cause cutaneous myiasis in man and animals. The 
allied C. enjthwcephala Macq. is found in North India and may some- 
times have the same habit. Lucillia serenissima, Fabr., a greenish 
medium sized fly common about the meat stalls at bazaars in South 
India, as a rule deposits its eggs on dead meat. Occasionally it will 
oviposit on sore places in the skin of sickly cattle. This often happens 
during outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease in Madras. 
{b) The next stage begins where this has become the regular habit 
as is the case with many species belonging to several genera. 
Pycnosoma is a genus to which belong the Oriental representatives 
of the genus Chrysomyia which in tropical America cause serious 
myiasis in men and beasts. They are thick-set insects with character- 
istic red cheeks. P. flaviceps, Walk., a well known species in South 
India, deposits its eggs in the nostrils particularly of human beinga 
and camels. The female flies are attracted by foul breath. The 
larvae penetrate within the nasal and frontal sinuses producing ul- 
ceration, fever and sometimes death. 
(c) The latest stage of parasitism is the blood-sucking maggot. 
The two genera AvcJwieromyid and Chceromyia which have developed 
this habit are both African. The Congo floor-maggot has already 
been referred to. The larvae of Chotromyia inhabit the lairs of wart- 
hogs and aard-varks whose blood they suck. 
Sarcophagidcr. The flesh-flies, as they are commonly called, are 
a family of few genera but there are many species and they are 
difficiilt to distinguish. The larvae sometimes live as parasites in 
wounds and sores causing dermal myiasis. They have also be(m 
discovered in the nasal cavities of man and other mammals. 
Whether this is one of the regular reproductive habits of definite species 
is not certainly known. The genus Sarcophaga is sometimes and 
perhaps habitually larviparous. These larvae have been found living 
in the stomachs of frogs and under the skin of turtles. The larvae 
of several species have been also found in snails, beetles, grass-hoppers 
and in the larvae of moths. < 
These flies are common all over India. They may be recognised 
