The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1885-08-29


SO that all motion Of the external parts
is prevented. The last mentioned is
the true voice of the insect; 1t is pro-
duced by the breathing holes of the
thorax. The buzz Of the fly thus ex-
presses the emotions of the creature;
the low hum being one of contentment,
the shrill, excited buzz one OF alarm and
disturbance.
When fly alights upon our hand or
face on a hot day it is for the purpose
of tapping the perspiration from the
skin. How this Is done is a curious
study When the fly. to quote from
our .Guide to the Study Of Insects"
settles upon lump Of sugar, or other
sweet object, it unbends and extends
its tongue, and the broad knob-like end
divides into two fiat, muscular leaves,
which thus present Q sucker-like sur
face. with which the fly laps up liquid
sweets. These two leaves are supported
which act as a set Of springs to open
inside of this broad fleshy expansion is
rough like q rasp, and. as Newport
states, is easily employed by the insect
in scraping or tearing delicate surfaces.
1t is by means of this curious structure
that the busy house-Ay occasions much
mischief to the covers Of our books, by
scraping off the albuminous polish, and
leaving traces Of its depredations In the
soiled and spotted appearance which 1t
occasions on them.
The structure Of the fiy's tongue, and
of the whole apparatus for taking its
food, has engaged the attention 10 late
years of some of our best ANTAGONISTS OF
insects. Its structure Is 80 complicated
and difficult to understand, and labored
anatomical descriptions are so dry, that
we will not here describe 1t, but content
ourselves with referring the reader for
proboscis to Professor Macloskie's
article in the american Naturalist for
March, 1880. Suffice it to say that the
fly has not. as have beetles and grass
hoppers, free jaws and accessory Jaws
for biting and tearing the food. but all
the mouth-parts of other insects are
represented by the fy's proboscis, the
larger part Of which Is formed by the
under lip; the enlarged and variously
modified fleshy extremity of which
forms sucking organ. What little
food is taken by the fly is fluid; sweet
fluids are its favorite diet.
But whence come the swarm of mid
summer flies, and how do they keep in
creasing through August What be-
comes of them in the winterp How
long do they live. and what Of the man.
ner of life of their youngp Are the
small flies the children OF the larger
onesp
So little was known about the early
history of the house-fly that we once
endeavored, and with fair success, to
study its transformations. During Au-
gust the house.hy is particularly abund-
ant, and especially so in and about sta
bles. On placing fly in bottle she
laid between six p. M, August ~, and
eight o'clock the next morning, one
hundred and twenty eggs. They were
deposited irregularly in stacks, lying
loose in two piles at the bottom of the
bottle. The next day several maggots.
as the larvar are called, were observed
crawling about in the bottom of the
bottle. Afterwards by placing mass
of offal in the sun, the flies came and
laid their little white slender eggs, which
Matched out so that thousands of writh-
ing maggots abounded In the mass.
1t was found that the young maggots
Matched in twenty-four hours after the
eggs were laid. At first they are but
little larger than the eggs. After re-
naming in the first stage for one day
the maggot mouths, being little larger
than before. After another day it sheds
its skin second time and enters upon
the third stage of its larval life, which
lasts three or four days. 1t breathes by
means of two spiracles or air-holes at
the end Of the body, which communi-
cate with the air-tubes in the body.
There Is also spiracle near the head.
When about to transform into the pupa
or chrysalis state, the body contracts
into barrel-shaped case, and turns
brown and hard. This case is called
the puparium, and within 1t the maggot
becomes pupa or chrysalis.
The house-fiy, having as maggoi
lived squalid existence, after pupa.
sleep of from five to seven days, pushes
off one end of its pupal case, and or
emerging from the case, immediately
runs about, though its wings are still
| ohioiA, ooAo uuu pdSSys iuuCI Us III tlt
pupa. Soon, however. the skin become.
dry and hard; the fluid In the wing,
dries, and in few moments the fly
takes fight.
If in its winged state the fly is one O
the most disagreeable features of dog
days, and people wonder why flies were
ever made at all, 1t should be remem
bered that flies have an infancy as mag
gots, and the loathsome life they ther
lead as scavengers cleanses and puriiies
the August afr, and aids in lowering
the death rate Of our cities and towns
While most house-flies die on ap
proach of winter, multitudes being at
tackled by white fungus, their swoller
dead bodies remaining on the wall Of
windows in October, few live through
the winter While writing this article
on the first warm day in spring, a few
flies have for the first time made theil
appearance in our study. These vii
lay their eggs about stables in the lat,
spring, and thus give rise to swarm
of maggots and August fiies.-A. S
Packard, Jr., in YOUTHS Companion.
| A Disinterested Party.