The French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1896-1912, 1906-05-24
HAerrs OF The HOUSE FLY.
Harold souers. M. A., Tells whence he
Comes, WHITTIER He Goes.

mestica) is q creature Of such secrptive
habits. hat although from the very
earliest times he has been with us, and
toned and described him. still very
little was known Of his origin and
history.
1t remained for the eminent Boston
biologist, DIR. A. s. Packard, in 1873,
to make known his origin, habits and
transformations from the egg through
the larva state with it's two changes
to the pupa state, then to the perfect
fly.
lays about 120 eggs of a duh gray
color. selecting fresh horse manure in
which to deposit her eggs, and SO Sc
cretes them that they are rarely seen;
it takes only twenty-four hours fer
them to hatch into the first forRo of
larva. a white worm one-duarter of
an inch in length and one-tenth in d.
ameter. They feed on the decaying
matter of their environment, and two
changes or casting Of skins occur be-
fore they turn into the pupa state; this
change comes very suddenly. The en-
tire period from the egg to the pupa
state is from three to four days. If
moist food is wanting when in this
condition they will eat each other and
thus decrease their number. Heat and
humidity greatly assist their develop
ment, as upon careful computation
each pound of manure around stables
and outhouses develops under favora-
BILE conditions over IL thousand flies
1t is no wonder that where these con-
ditions exist, we have such a veritable
harvest of the fly pest.
In the pupa state when the fly is
about to emerge, b end OF b pupa
case splits off, making a hple through
which the fly pushes a portion OF its
head; but here it seems to encounter a
difficulty; the pupa case is too stiff and
hard to pass through, but nature comes
to it's assistance, and a sort of bladder
like substance forms behind the head.
which swells out apparently filed with
air; it acts as Il means of pushing away
the pupa case and releases the fly.
When the fly first energies 1t runs
around with it's wings soft, small and
baggy; it is pale and the colors are
not set; its head rapidly expands and
the bladder formation passes away
within a few hours the wings grow and
harden, it is now a perfect fly.
The whole time from the depositing
of the egg to the perfect fly is not over
ten days in duration Many persons
who observe small flies i'll midsummer
suppose they are the young, but such
is not the case, they are flies that are
imperfectly nourished in the larvae
and pupae states, and do not attain
full size, in fact, they are the dwarfs
of their race The male fly differs
from the female in the front of the
head between the eyes, being at least
one-third narrower, though in size the
female is rather smaller.
In the pupa state they are often fec
upon by the larvae of some of the
beetles, notably that of the carpet
beetle, whose pupa, the dreaded buf'
falo "moth," will attack the young
fly in the pupa case and eating 1T pos
sess the case for itself.
Adult flies. like most other creatures
have parasites of minute size that prey
upon them; these can often he seen as
presenting small red speckS over the
body of the fly.
Another enemy in the form Of q fun
gus often attacks the fly in the early
autumn. This makes its appearance
as a white swelling and the white
spores of the disease a be seen pene
trating the body of the fly, which
finally distends and ruptures.
The fly hibernates in winter, but wit
his usual secretive habit, it is very Dill
ficult to find him in his winter quar-
tiers. With the first chill Of autumn
, the flies feeling the cold, seek TEN
porary warmth in houses. and cluster
ing together form punches in the cor
ners of walls and other places. The,
are then sluggish and not so active a
in the warm weather. However, the
do not make q permanent stay indoor:
but on the first mild, sunny day. see
the windows to get out and find thei
permanent winter hiding place; man
prefer to make their homes in the root
of grass on lawns where they MO
themselves so ef%fectually that the &c
and snow of winter does not destro
them in their alternating state. II
the first warm days Of spring when tn
snow is gone and the grass on tn
lawns becomes dry and warm, long b.
fore the yellow dandelion shows Il
head. q close observer may see nun
bers of dies crawling up on the gras
. to get the welcome sunshine. the
: wings standing out stiff and useles
but they soon acquire the power
/, fight in the warm rays of the sun.
great many days, however. elapse o
fore they appear in the homes of me
where they are such unwelcome Vi
it0rS.
In recent years. the medical profe
Y sion have demonstrated that while(tl
fly itself does not propagate disease.
r is one of the most industrious carrie
s Of disease germs which by contact a
here to his feet, hairy legs and bod
= GH,nro 70 inna0onf victims