Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1901-09-21
The House Fly.

The House Fly.
i If there is living creature that you
may think you know it is the fly. But
/ while you have seen flies. and have, per
| haps. beer tormented by some of that
\ family this summer, how much do y0I
really knew about them?
The illes you know best are the house
| hv. the stable fly and the moslGitc. Their
/ general family name is Dipterd which
| is given as we'll to other members of the
| family for it is legion. I'D plera' means
| rwiee- winged, term which pltngs to
/ all twG-WIIiged insects. Thl la.yae of
4 the Iouse fly and of the stable Hy are
/ born in f'sh, but as soon as they ar
! fully developed they soar into the sun
| shine and free air Only on damp days
! do they care TO enter houses ana stables,
! for flies cannot bear to he out i'll the wet.
| So sensitive are they to moisture that
| they will go almost anywhere to avoid
1 it, We do not need to tell you hat to
drive flies from the house you should
darken the rooms and give the littl.
creatures a chance to escape into the sun
shine. They will avail themselves of 1t
readily enough. AS the flies of which
we are speaking develop Ill NTH, 1t IS
natural that c,eanly human beings shouHs
10 their hes; to be rid of them. Flies
menace to health, as any physician viii
tell you.
TO keep to the housefy and to begin at
the beginning, we must tell you that IL
is one of the shorthorned DlDtera, lis
special name of Brachycera meaning
shorthorn or antenna, because the anten-
nae are short. They are also three
jointed, with the third joint ringed. If
You can look at a common housefy I'M
der the microscope you VIII at once see
what we mean This fly lays it's eggs in
manure or other filth. and as one or
two hundred eggs are usually laid by a
single female you see thar a mother fly is
very much like the famous old woman
who lived in shoe. In warm weather it
takes only Il few hours for the eggs to
hatch into maggGts, or larvae; 1t takes
only a week for the maggotS to become
full-grown flies; within two weeks they
are busy starting families of their own
If the common fly had 10 enemies it
would torment mankind far more than
1t does. Nature manages, however. to
keep her balance. even with a fly. Tiny
parasites destroy many of the larvae be-
fore they have half chance to develop
IN the autumn you will find a fungous
growth choking the life out Of the flies
-that,it infests. Have YOU never found
dead flies on a window pane their bodies
wrapped in an odd sort OF winding-sheet
made of fine white threads sticking out
in every direction? If you haven't. you
may look for them this autumn and feel
| that You have learned something of the
tragedy which can come into the life of
fly.
The common stable fly or horsefy is
| Of three kinds. The large mourning
hcrseily is of a uniform black; the
white-lined fly differs only in dress, be-
ing of the same annoying species; the
smaller g0lden-headed horse and OK flies
| have banded wings; The female alone
sucks blood, while the male feeds dainti-
~ upon flowers. The larvae, however,
are carniyorous.
The mesquite and the black fly we
| speak of together because Of the cQuail,
painful discomfort OF their bites; but
zoclogically they differ little. The mos
name for the fly. They have feathery
antennae and a fringe of hairs on the
hmd margin Of the wing. The larvae
develop on the surface of stagnant
RoolS. As the larvae have a respiratory
tube open 1T the tail end, they rest YER
ticdiiy near the surface of the water
head down and the tail at the surface,
IN order 10 breathe through that end
! ne reason they are killed by pouring
Kerosene Gil over the water is that the
OH makes film through which they can
net breathe. which literally smothers
them to death. The black fi;es. ON the
other hand are long horned flies. the
.Ntmatocera. What boy i'll the Adiron-
dack woods this summer. or in past sum
merS. has not seen and felt them! The
females alone, like the female mosgui-
toes are the bloodsuckers. The larvae
also live and develop on the surface of
the water
Yor may ask, possibly. what good do
the flies ana what real harm, or which
10 they more than the other-g0od or
harm! The Diptera directly and ind.
recty are n nuisance to man, because
bp
horses and cattle; the buffalo gnat nc
tuaIly kills some of the domestic ami
mails rs does the bot fly The larvae
Of some kinds Of flies iniure fruit and
vegetables; the galiy. or gall gnat. de-
Str0ys clover and its seed: the Hoss;an
ily docs great damage to wheat and to
Indian corn. But We cannot deny that
some of the Diptcra do great good in
preylng en- injurious insects There is
a robhcr fly which attacks and dt.yours
the common hcuSetiy, the stable fly.
humble bees and dragon flies. The lar
vac # 4 fly called the Syrphjda prey
en- injurious plant lice. We have told
You that the larvae Of the h0rSlflipS
are carniyorouS; they prey on many
KINDS of insect larvae. Some Of the
lGptcta act as scayeEgcrS Have Won
never heard what good is done by the
mosquito larvae: They are ScavengcrS.
We might have the work done nv n
TieaSauter workman: but mt least give
them their due for the only known ben
cit they incur upon the human race
Inc rafrlHn, fly eats decaEiag animal
matter, while some Diptnra cot decay
ing vegetable matter The crawninc |
work Of all is that Of the larvae Of flies !
which, by boring into rotten wood helm
make the forest mold, You will not we |
think. End any scientific man who would |
dare to say that mankind would h. |
better m If nil the Diptcra were gone
from the face Of the earth.
oil Engines IA Palestine