(ESTRIPiE. 
653 
course of months gradually work their way outwards to the back, where 
they perforate the skin, moult and become spiny, causing a sore swelling 
in which they live until ready to pupate, when they work their way out 
by means of their spines and fall to the ground, the fly emerging from 
the pupa in three or four weeks ( Hypoderma ). The best-known species 
in India is CEstrus ovis (PL LXIX, fig. 6), which lives in the noses of 
sheep, and is sneezed out when ready for pupation. Fig. 425 shows the 
empty pupa-case. Mr. Middleton has sent us larvse of Cephalomyia 
maculata, Wied., which he found living in a similar way in the nostrils 
of camels (fig. 430). The life-histories of the family, as a whole, are 
very incompletely known owing to the difficulty of observing the stages 
in the living animal, and the habits of the flies themselves are hardly 
known at all. The family is by no means uniformly disturbed over 
India ; we have no knowledge of the condition of things in Southern 
India, but, excluding Madras and the west coast, it seems probable 
that Hypoderma , the common European genus, is confined to Western 
India, from the Punjab southwards probably as far as Gujerat. Mr. D. 
Quinlan (Superintendent, C. V. D., Bengal) informs us that he has rarely 
or never seen warbles in Bengal cattle except in the hills, and this agrees 
with our own experience. CEstrus is, however, not uncommon in Bengal, 
and Gastrophilus also occurs in certain districts. It is a large yellow 
rather bee-like fly with clouded wings and a large and complex ovipositor, 
The preventives usually tried are strong-smelling washes, tar or grease, 
applied to the skin of the cattle with the object of deterring the flies 
from laying their eggs, or greasy and other dressings applied to the 
swelling on the back. Neither method appears to be entirely effective 
(Carpenter and Steen, J., Agric. Dept., Ireland, Vol. VIII) and lancing 
or squeezing out the larvae as soon as they are nearly mature seems the 
only thing to do in the present absence of knowledge of the habits of the 
flies : the wound should then be dressed with crude oil emulsion to deter 
Muscids or Sarcophagids from depositing their eggs or maggots on the 
raw surface. A very good summary of what is known of the habits is 
given by Imms. (J. Econ. Biology, Vol. I). A general account of the 
family is given by Dr. Bau (Gen. Insectorum, CEstridce) who lists four 
species from India. These are Cohboldia elephantis , Cobb., in the stomach 
of the Indian elephant ; Gastrophilus equi , Fab., in the stomach of the 
horse (G. pecorum, Fab., from Deesa is in the British museum collection) ; 
