August, ’20] 
PARMAN: INSECTS AND STORMS 
341 
flies upon it. At the laboratory, where from one to more than five 
thousand Musca domestica and Chrysomyia macellaria were taken in 
periods of 48 hours in traps before the storm only 8 to 31 were taken 
after the storm during the remainder of the season (trappings were 
made semi-monthly on 1st and 15th). About 5:00 p. m., August 18, 
attention was drawn to large numbers of house flies on the screens 
about the house; many of the screens being literally covered and they 
were found to be collecting in protected places. A bucket of kitchen 
refuse was examined where only a few hours before hundreds of C. 
macellaria and M. domestica were feeding and only a few specimens of 
C. macellaria were found deep in the bucket and no M. domestica were 
present. After the storm it was rare to see more than two or three 
specimens of either species for a period of ten to fifteen days. All 
species of diptera diminished appreciably with the storm, but of the 
ones under observation Lucilia sp. was least affected. 
During the last three years observations have been made on several 
species of Muscids showing that with a rapidly falling barometer they 
first become nervously active and then go into a state of partial coma. 
Some species have a tendency to seek a place of protection at this time, 
others show this tendency very little but become quiet at a most con¬ 
venient place. While the flies are in this state of coma they are more 
subject to action of other destructive agencies, probably diseases 
included. Heavy rains are destructive to insect life to some extent, as 
has been observed by other writers and workers. The chilling effect 
during the storm might have contributed to some extent to the destruc¬ 
tion of the flies as the minimum for August 19 was 67 degrees. Mechan¬ 
ical action of the wind and action of sea spray possibly contributed to 
the destruction, but it is evident that the destruction of flies during 
this storm was rather unusual and the unusual characteristic of the 
storm was the very steep and short barometric gradient. 
Another tropical storm visited this section September 14 and 15, 
1919. This storm was very similar to the storm of August 18, 1916, 
except the barometric gradient was not so steep and the wind was not 
quite as strong but lasted longer. The barometer began to fall on the 
evening of September 13 from 29.05. It was 28.85 on the morning of 
the 14th and 28.65 in the evening, 10: 00 p. m. 28.60, 11: 00 p. m. 28.55, 
September 15 at 1:30 a. m. 28.45, 2 a. m. 28.50, 3:30 a. m. 28.40, 
4: 00 a. m. 28.50, 5: 00 a. m. 28.45, 6: 00 a. m. 28.50, 8: 00 a. m. 28.50, 
noon 28.70, 8: 00 p. m. 28.90. The rainfall was 3.75 inches. The wind 
was blowing a strong breeze from the northeast on the morning of the 
14th and increased to a high wind by 10: 00 p. m. and to the propor¬ 
tions of a storm by 2 a. m. September 15, at which time it became 
changeable to the southeast and blew from 50 to 60 miles an hour until 
