60 
Psyche 
[June 
No. 16 mesh bronze screen cloth. The bottom of the cage 
has a %-inch galvanized hardware cloth floor with a No. 
28 gauge galvanized sheet metal collection tray placed on 
runners 1-inch below this floor. The front of the cage is 
fitted with a sliding galvanized sheet metal door (No. 28 
gauge) . 
2. Shipping Live Flies by Mail. Mailing live flies in 
cardboard mailing tubes was also tried by the author, but 
did not prove as successful as the preceding method or 
the third method described below. 
The captured flies were placed in shell vials (24 mm. 
wide and 95 mm. long) stoppered with perforated, screened 
corks. These corks were made by removing a large center 
core from each and then gluing a circle of 1 /16-inch mesh 
nylon bobbinette over the opening on the bottom of the 
cork. Several of these vials were placed in an 8-inch card- 
board mailing tube, cork end up. The metal mailing tube 
lid was perforated in several places and the underneath 
surface of the lid was lined with No. 16 mesh bronze screen 
cloth to prevent loss of flies if a vial broke in transit. The 
perforated corked vials were next to the perforated mail- 
ing tube lid which enabled the flies to get a sufficient 
amount of air. The bottom of the mailing tube and the 
spaces between the vials were tightly packed with cotton 
to prevent rattling or breakage. Where air mail service is 
available this method is quite adequate, but it is not very 
satisfactory with ordinary first class or second class postal 
service. Since hippoboscid flies cannot live long away from 
the host speed is of prime importance in transporting flies 
by mail. 
3. Shipping Live Flies in a Cold Temperature Cabinet. 
This third method for transporting live hippoboscid flies 
was found to be very satisfactory. The technique was 
adapted from one used by Geigy (1948) to ship adult 
tsetse flies of the species Glossina palpalis. Geigy devised 
and used a cold temperature cabinet, which was adjusted 
to be kept at 8° C. (46.8° F.), to send adult flies from 
tropical Africa (Congo) to Basle, Switzerland, via air 
express. 
The present author used the modified cabinet (Fig. 2) to 
