An Elementary Study of Insects | Page 9

stables,
manure piles or in street gutters where manure is allowed to collect.

Each female lays a large number of eggs and since it requires less than
two weeks for the pest to mature, we are soon overrun with flies in the
summer where steps are not taken to control them. The maggots are
often so abundant in stables that they can be scooped out with a shovel.
This ceaseless breeding continues from spring until the first frost in the
fall.
[Illustration: Favorite breeding places of house fly. Such places should
be kept as clean and neat as the front yard.]
In the control of the fly and prevention of trouble from it there are three
important steps to take. First of all, go to the source of the trouble and
do away with or screen all breeding places. Then, by keeping in mind
the fact that the fly is comparatively harmless as long as it is kept from
filth laden with germs, do away with all open closets, uncovered
slop-barrels and other filth. As a further precaution keep it from the
home by the use of screens and when necessary "swatters." Do not
make the mistake of trying to control the pest with the "swatters" alone.
In the country too often manure is permitted to accumulate about the
barn during the summer with a view of using it on wheat ground in the
fall and this furnishes ideal conditions for the fly to breed. Another
source of constant danger especially in the rural districts is the presence
of open closets or worse still the presence of no closet at all. This is
without doubt the most dangerous accessory of the farm. More screens
should be used in the home and greater care in keeping them closed.
[Illustration: An open closet to which the house fly has free access.
Such a closet is the most dangerous accessory of any home.]
STUDY OF THE FLY AND ITS WORK
Observe first of all the feeding habits of the fly. What foods in the
home is it most fond of? Make a list of all the food materials it is found
to feed on. Where and on what is it found feeding out doors? Do you
find it feeding on filth and if so, on what? Do you find it about the barn?
Where is it usually found in the barn? How can the fly carry filth to
food materials?

In studying the breeding of the fly determine where it lays its eggs and
where the maggots are found. Examine fresh manure in the stable and
see if you can find small white maggots about half an inch long and as
large around as the lead in a pencil. If you do, place some of them with
some fresh manure in a glass jar and see what becomes of them. In a
few days the maggots will disappear and in their places small oval,
brown bean-like objects will appear. A few days later these will crack
open at one end and the fly will crawl out. Keep records of the length
of time it requires for the pest to pass from one stage to the other. If
maggots cannot be gotten put some fresh manure in the jar and catch a
number of live house flies and put them in with the manure and watch
for results. Collect a jar of fresh manure with maggots and sift over it a
little powdered borax and see what happens to the maggots. Where
horse manure can not be properly disposed of, cheap borax is used to
throw over piles of manure to destroy the maggots and prevent the flies
from breeding in it. Write a brief description of the different stages and
make careful drawings of these. Do not mistake the house fly for other
flies often found on food in the home.
Collect a few flies and put them in a bottle and drop in with them just a
few crumbs of sugar and watch them feed. They cannot chew but a
little saliva from the mouth dissolves a little of the sugar which is then
lapped up as syrup. Notice what a peculiar sucker they have for
drawing up liquids. How can they crawl along in the bottle with their
backs toward the floor? Examine the tip of their feet for a small glue
pad which sticks to the glass. These glue pads and the sucker are well
fitted for carrying filth. Examine the fly carefully and write a brief
description of it. What color is it? How many legs? How many wings?
Are these transparent? Behind the wings there is a pair of small stubs
which is all that is left of the hind pair of wings. Are the eyes large?
Can you find