August, ’23] simmons: house fly plague, American exp’d forces 
357 
under conditions of serious leaf-hopper infestation, is an index to the 
efficiency of the control measure.. 
References 
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vegetation, Cambridge, 1841, pp. 182-185. 
2. 1904. Slingerland, M. V. The grape leaf-hopper, Typhloc-yba comes Say, 
Cornell University, Expt. Sta. Bui. 215, 1904, p. 86. 
3. 1910. Hartzell, F. Z. A preliminary report on grape insects, N. Y. Expt. 
Sta. Bui. 331, 1910, pp. 569, 570. 
4. 1911. Johnson, Fred. Spraying experiments against the grape leaf-hopper in 
the Lake Erie Valley, U. S. Bur. Ent. Bui. 97, pt. 1, 1911, p. 2. 
5. 1912. Hartzell, F. Z. The grape leaf-hopper and its control. N. Y. Expt. 
Sta. Bui. 344, 1912, pp. 33, 34. 
6. 1913. Hartzell, F. Z. The grape leaf-hopper, N. Y. Expt. Sta. Bui. 359,1913, 
pp. 46-51. 
7. 1914. Johnson, Fred. The grape leaf-hopper in the Lake Erie Valley, U. S. 
Dept. Agri. Bui. 19, 1914, p. 5. 
8. 1922. DeLong, D. M. The boom nozzle system and the traction duster as 
factors in grape leaf-hopper control. Jl. Ec. Ent. Vol. 15, No. 1, 1922. p. 88. 
A HOUSE FLY PLAGUE IN THE AMERICAN EXPE¬ 
DITIONARY FORCE 1 
By Perez Simmons 
Assistant Entomologist , Stored Product Insect Investigations. Bureau of Entomology 
Abstract 
The house fly became a serious danger to health during the summer of 1918 at 
one of the camps of the 20th Engineers (Forestry) at Lamanchs, Department of the 
Landes, southwestern France. A location that should have been unusually healthful 
was transformed into a place of pestilence through neglect of sanitation. A severe 
epidemic of dysentery was followed by epidemic influenza and pneumonia, and there 
is strong evidence to support the belief that the fly-borne dysentery was largely 
responsible for the severity of the influenza among the main body of troops at Lam¬ 
anchs. Although commissioned entomologists would have encountered substantial 
difficulties, it is felt that a great deal of good would have been accomplished by quali¬ 
fied men applying preventive and remedial measures at the proper time. 
During the year 1918 the writer had an opportunity to observe the 
lack of fly control in one of the permanent camps of the A. E. F., in the 
southwest of France. The company of which he was a member (11th 
Company, 20th Engineers, Forest) went into permanent camp at a spot 
known as Lamanchs, three miles north of the small seacoast town of 
Mimizan-les-Bains (Landes) on January 27th. Lamanchs is about in 
the center of the sand dune belt which borders the Bay of Biscay for 
nearly 100 miles, the belt being six miles wide at that point. The dune 
Mhe facts given are from memory and from the diaries of Attorney F: A. Lind, 
Seattle, Wash., (formerly first sergeant), and the writer. The substance of this 
paper was written in 1920 and at that time copies were submitted to Mr. Lind and to 
Mr. C. T. Dodds, now entomologist with the United Sugar Cos., Los Mochis, Sinaloa, 
Mexico, and the writer is indebted to both for criticisms and corrections. Mr. Lind 
and Mr. Dodds were active in studying the causes and possible palliative measures in 
connection with the fly plague. 
