Abstract

Before giving an account of the various experiments tried at the Central Farm towards Fly control it may be useful to consider what flies are, and how their control is of importance. What are flies ? Flies are insects with a single pair of wings and belong to the order Diptera. Their mouth parts are adapted for sucking in liquid food. They pass through four stages in their life history, viz., egg, larva, pupa and adult. In the case of the common housefly, eggs are laid by the female in manure heaps, etc. After a short period of 8 to 24 hours, maggots hatch out of the eggs and feed on nutrient substances in the manure. When full fed, they pupate and in course of time, emerge as adult flies. The whole life-cycle of a fly worked out in November (1930), came to about 10 days, the egg, larval and pupal periods being 8 hours, 3 days and 6 days respectively. The total life-cycle may vary according to the different seasons.

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