The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1917-04-06

about the little
tailor who was so proud TM
of his success Of killing /AHB
seven flies, all at one = MSS
fell swOOp, that he kf
made for himself a belt
with the words upon 1t, ~
Seven at one blow" ~
This was long before
the days of "Swat-the-fy" campaigns
so after all, the little tailor did n
greater thing than he realized.
1t was not so very long ago that
the common house fly was held up as
pattern of harmlessness-henc
the phrase, "He wouldn't hurt n fly"
Now all this has been changed.
Health officers everywhere are doing
everything possible TO make eTerS'-
one realize 1t is his imperative duty
TO kill every fly that comes within
his reach. A war of determination
has been declared against the house
fly. This summer greater forces than
ever are being prepared to storm the
trenches of the common enemy of man
kind and rOut him forever. 1t is real
ized that IL is within the power or
the house fly, apparently such feeble
Creature, to slay more human beings
than can the most modern artillery Of
the heaviest caliber!
Year by year the war on the house
fly Is gaining in strength. 1t started
only few years ago, when the vital
ly important matter of the dangers of
what Ecclesiastes refers to as "the fly
in the ointment" was made plain.
Prof. L. o. Howard, chief of the
bureau Of entomology, United States
department of agriculture, has made
an extensive study of flies. The re-
suits of Professor Howard's investi-
cations are given in a recently issued
government bulletin, which contains
much valuable information that will
enable communities to wage effective
warfare on flies.
Death Bearing House Fly.
"There are several species Of flies
which are commonly found In
houses" says Professor Howard, "al-
though but one of these would prop
erly be called the house fly. This
fly, which is found in nearly all parts
of the world, is a medium-sized gray
ish fly, with its mouth parts spread
out at the tip for sucking up
LIQUID substances. On account of
this conformation of its mouth parts
the house fly cannot bite, yet no i'm
preston is stronger in the minds of
some people than that this insect does
bite.
"The house fly lays its eggs upon
all kinds of filth. The number of
eggs laid by an individual fly at one
time is undoubtedly large, probably
averaging about 120, and a single
female will lay at least two and pos
sibly four such patches. Under the
most favorable conditions of tempera-
ture and moisture the egg state may
last hardly more than eight hours. The
maggots which issue from the eggs
are very small and transparent. They
grow rapidly.
"As the larvae attain full size they
gradually assume creamy white
color. Just before pupatiOn they be-
come very restless and migrate from
their feeding ground in search Of
q favorable place in which to pass
the pupal stage. They will often con-
gregate at the edges Of piles Of filth
near the ground or burrow into the
soil beneath, .or they crawl consider
able distances away to pupate In the
ground or in loose material under the
edges Of stones, boards, etc. The
pupae or 'sleepers,' are more or less
barrel.shaped and dark brown in
color. In midsummer this stage lasts
from three to ten days, four to five
days being the usual duration.
How Fly Spreads Disease.
1.-The adult fly, upon emerging
from the puparium, works its way
upward through the soil or filth and
upon reaching the air it crawls
about while its wings expand and
the body hardens and assumes its
normal cOlOration. In very few days
the female is ready to deposit eggs.
"The body Of the house fly is
thickly covered with hairs and bris-
ties of varying lengths, al d this is