The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1881-07-08
MORMON rrEs.

The Mormon fly, so-called, is known to
It is about an inch long. its wings elegant
~ piled with cream color and brown. 1t
is not s.hard to say where they come
from" They are the perfect insect of
larvae that pass their earlier stages in the
water They must be ranked among the
beneficial insects; for they are scavengers
in the water devouring all manner of inn
purities, and feeding upon smaller insects.
Speaking of the Epemeridac, Riley says
they feed on minute aquatic animals.
Goody says OF Caddis-worms- belonging
to the same family as the Mormon flies
their food is normally vegetarian. and
other species are plant feeding; he had fed
several on beef and mutton, but all these,
when opportunity offers or necessity COM
pels, become carniverous or even cannibal
istic. LinnRs said, and he was wonder
full naturalist Three blow flies will devour
the body of dead horse as quickly as will
lion. !" These Mormon flies produced by
millions are doing in the water to remove
sources of impurity what the common
house fly-the Musca Domestica--is doing
to remove sources of atmospheric impurity.
This is the natural law. DR.. LIE Moyne,
the wisest man of his day, the first to erect
a furnace for the cremation of human bod
les in this country, understood it. He did
not speak of the Mormon fly, but said:
God in his wisdom and mercy saw the
vital necessity of providing speedy and
efficient means for removing decomposing
matter, that it might not continue to pois-
on the air which all living being inhale;
nor contaminate the water which all living
beings imbibe by the noxious exhalations
and in6ltrations which emanate from de-
composing bodies" And the Mormon f1y
is doing this beneicent work in the waters
from generation to generation. So much
for their suselessness. By these appar
emily insignificant means the loving Father
is protecting the health and life of man
against injurious influences.
Walsh is authority for the statement that
these flies belong to the family of Ephem-
eridae. They have no mouths and can eat
nothing. They live only a day in their
perfect state; but in their larvae and semi
pupa condition they remain in the water
perhaps two years all the time engaged in
feeding upon substances which if not
guarded against, would be deleterious to
health. 1t is mystery why they should
have been called Mormon flies. 1t is said
that they first appeared in 1910, when the
Mormons under the leadership of the
prophet John Smith settled at Nouvoo on
the Mississippi river. But they have
swarmed in the special localities every
year for indefinite ages.
Their ambition" il far beyond that of
fastening to the side of building"
Tneir ambition is precisely the same as
that of all other living beings-namely, to
propagate their species. Coming into the
perfect state the male and female unite
The eggs are deposited in the position best
suited to the wants of the life which is to
be produced, and then the insect dies
With but a few exceptions, insects never
behold their own offspring. The Mormon
fly deposits her eggs near or over the wa
ter when Matched the little larvae seek
the water or fall into it, and there find the
elements necessary to their growth and
nourishment. They stay in the water for
two or three years until fitted for the
change to the perfect insect; they come
out, seek their mates, preserve the contin
uance of their kind, live day and die.