THE DUNG-FLIES. 
619 
honey-bee; and it measures, from the face to the tips of the 
closed wings, from two fifths to one half of an inch, or more. 
The females are smaller, olive-colored, and sparingly clothed 
with short whitish hairs, with leo-s and wino-s like those of the 
male. The maggots or young, with the parent insects, live 
wholly upon dung, and are innocent of any injury to plants. 
The accusation brouo:ht ao:ainst this insect entitles it to 
notice in this work, and to the distinction of a name and 
character by which it may hereafter be known. It maj'", 
therefore, be called Scatophaga furcata^^ the forked dung- 
eater. 
The dung-flies, or Scatomyians (Scatomyzad^), in some 
of their characters, resemble the flower-flies, having similar 
wings, and very small ringlets; but their eyes are wide 
apart, and are of the same size in both sexes. The fly in 
question keeps its body remarkably clean, notwithstanding 
its dirty habits, and is neither offensive to the eye nor to the 
smell. The general color of the male is a bright ochre- 
yellow. The antennas are pale red, and there is a wide 
forked red spot on the top of the head. The thorax is 
obscurely striped with brown above, and is lead-colored 
below the scutel. The hind body is oblong oval, and covered 
with long ochre-yellow hairs. The wings are ochre-yellow 
at the base and on the outer margin; and the two little 
transverse veins upon each of them are very conspicuous 
from their dark color and dusky borders. The legs are red¬ 
dish yellow, and covered with long ochre-yellow hairs, inter¬ 
mixed with which there are a few black bristles; and there 
is a faint blackish line on the top of tjie first pair of thighs. 
A few black bristles are scattered upon the head and the top 
of the thorax. The bristle of the antennae, when viewed 
with a powerful magnifier, is found to be covered with very 
minute hairs. 
* Pyropa furcata, Say. Journ. Acad. Nat. Sciences, Vol. III. p. 98. To an 
imperfect specimen of this insect, Mr. Say gave the name of Scatophaga postilena^ 
which it bears in the Catalogue of the Insects of Massachusetts. 
