Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-08-23
QUEER FACTS ABOUT FLIES.
some. Interesting Observations Upon a
Common Domestic Enemy.

HE popular notion that house flies walk
~ on the ceiling by the help Of the suckers
on their feet is a mistaken one" said q
ARman OF science TO q STAR reporter. Not
~ Withstanding the testimony on this point
OF many old and respected authors the fact is
that the fy has no suckers on Its feet at all but
each OF those six members ends in q pair Of
little cushions and pair of hooks The cush-
ions are covered with ever so MANY knobhed
hairs, which are kept moist BY an exuding
fluid. Thus a fly is able 70 walk on a smooth
wall or ceiling or window pane. AID apparently
DEFY the law OF gravitation. by the adhering
power Of the moist hairy pads. You will un-
derstand the theory OF it if you will touch the
moistened end Of your forehnger to the win
dow glass or any smooth surface and observe
the perceptible adhesion. For Walking ON
rough surfaces the ly's foot cushions srs OF no
use; but the insect IS provided with the twelve
strong hooks mentioned 10 10 its rough travel
with, clinglng by them to any such surface as
whltewashed wall or cloth.
HOW FLY Is BORN.
"Another prevalent fallacy is that the smaller
dies seen in houses are young ones. As is the
case with all insects, the iy's growth is accom-
plished in the larva state: il ends with the issu
ing from the pupa and the expansion of the
wings. Individual flies differ IN size al matrr-
lty. just as is the case with man and other
animals. Every house iy that YOU see was once
a craving maggot. The eggs laid by the female
ny are usually deposited ia warm manure or IN
decomposlng vegetation. Each stable in sum-
mer that Is not kept remarkably clean is a
Matching and propagsting place for flies
Within twenty-four hours after the eggs are
laid they are Matched out into footless magcots,
which lnhablt the hith they are born IA tor a
week and then contract to little brown objects
araa I,..a L. 1 =.
the maggot is transformed into the perfect fiv.
which crawls out of the puparlUm five DAYS
later. already grown TO full size. and wings Its
way 70 share your luncheon. A fy lives about
three weeks. When the cold weather comes
the flies nearly all die; but a few vigorous f.
males remain torpid in hooks and crannies,
thus surviving the winter and continuing their
species the following summer. The iy has
several parasites. the most common of which
Is little red mite, which attaches itself near
the base of the fiy's wings. and a fungus plant
that often fastens 1t to a window pane.
TIE EARTH WORM.
Another very interesting creature. sun.
ciently common. but very little known about. i.
the earth worm. which may be called the
original tiller of the soil. inasmuch as il has
created. by passing vegetable matter through
its body, all OF the fruitful mold and loa n
that at present covers the surface of the earth
BY the process mentioned earth worms have
been known to raise field thirteen inches in
eighty years. According to Darwin the farmer
only initiates the earth worm in q clumsy way,
without being able to bury the pebbles or slfl
the fine from tine coarse soil. the earth worm
Is doing all the time. A weii-knoWn scotsman
OF Marblehead, Mass. carefully collected the
castings of earth worms for one season over
given area, and they measured nearly a quart
to the square foot. or enough 10 raise the sur
face of the land half an inch. lie also. by ex-
pertinent. showed that an acre of land might
contain six tons of worms. Won Hensen esti-
mated 53.767 worms TO the acre. and that they
would make 81 pounds of mold every twenty.
four hours. Darwin said that earth worms had
undoubtedly helped very importantly to bury
ancient buildings. The earth worm has no sex
If you examine its body with a lens you will
discover that each of the numerous rings OF
joints into which 1T is divided is furnished with
four pairs of minute hooks, which take the
place of legs. and by means Of which its move
ments are aided"