Australian insects

The Drone or Bee Fly, Eristalis tenax, is another common garden fly with a very wide range, and is an introduced European species. It measures over ½ an inch in length and is broad in proportion; the head and thorax are clothed with yellowish brown down, and the smooth shining abdomen is mottled with black and brown. The larvae are dirty white maggots with slender rat-tails at the tip of the body, and they live in all kinds of rotten or semi-liquid refuse.

Helophilus bengalensis is a smaller, robust fly with rounded eyes; the thorax is richly barred with parallel grey lines on the dorsal surface; and there are two large lunate yellow spots at the basal portion of the abdomen. The lower part of the abdomen tapers to a rounded tip and is clothed with yellow down. This fly was originally described from Bengal by Wiedemann; Schiner has reported it from Batavia; my specimens come from Queensland. H. griseus was described and its life history given in my “Entomology of the Grass-trees” (Pro. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. 1896) under the name of Orthoprosopa nigra. The larvae, elongate in form, with a short anal tubular tail, swarm in great numbers between the outer shell and the caudex of the dead rotting trunk of the grass-trees among the slime and water. They pupate in the damp earth in captivity, forming a light brown oval case with the remains of the larval tail shortened and retracted. This handsome black fly, over ½ an inch in length, has the face and antennae bright yellow; the dorsal surface clothed with fine black pubescence; the scutellum smooth and shining; the sides fringed with scattered grey hairs; and the wings clouded. There is a second species found in similar situations; the larvae have the typical slender rat-tails, and when they pupate transform the tail into a curved tubular process at the extremity of the chrysalis.

Sphiximorpha australis, from Southern Queensland, is a very curious broad thickset black and yellow fly, with spatulate tipped antennae standing out in front of the two large eyes; the head is slightly larger than the thorax, which is stout and thickened; and the broad abdomen is rounded at the extremity. The general colour is black, with the face, three spots on the sides of the thorax, scutellum, apical portion of legs, and two bands on the abdomen rich yellow. The wings are clear, except a dark stripe along the front margin. This curious fly has a striking resemblance to some of the yellow banded mud-nest wasps (Odynerus and Alastor), but the reason for their bright colouration and abnormal shape is at present unknown.

Family 15. Wasp-flies.
CONOPIDAE.

These are handsome flies of moderate size, many of which are very wasp-like in the shape of the abdomen and in general colouration; they have the proboscis prolonged but usually drawn up and hidden; the 3-jointed antennae inserted in front of the head are close together at the base, with the first joint very short. Comstock says that the larva of Conops is a soft whitish 11-jointed flask-shaped grub, with a long neck and mouth armed with lips and hooks (mandibles) and two lateral elevated plates supporting the two spiracles. It was found by Lachat and Audouin living in the body of a Bombus. Most of the members of this family are found as parasites upon different bees and wasps; the flies deposit their eggs upon the perfect insects; the larva bores into the abdomen, feeds upon the contents, and finally pupates in the shell of the body. They are considered by most writers to be allied to the Syrphidae.

This is a small family in regard to numbers of species, but they are widely distributed: Van der Wulp lists 14 species of the Genus Conops from South Asia, including the Malay Archipelago (Cat. Described Diptera 1896), and others have since been described.

Conops pica, described by Macquart from Australia, is found in the Mittagong district, N.S.W. It is slightly over ¼ of an inch in length; has large lance-tipped antennae standing out in front; a large head; the abdomen very slender at the base swelling out to a broadly rounded tip, giving it a striking resemblance to the small “mud-nest wasps.” This resemblance is further borne out by its general dark brown colour marked and banded with yellow, which upon the abdomen forms two broad bands, a spot on the sides, and a large rounded blotch on the extreme tip; the legs are banded, and the wings are striped in front with brown.

Family 16. Fruit Flies, Leaf Mining Flies, &c.
MUSCIDAE ACALYPTRATA.

Under this heading Sharp places a large division of closely related flies comprising 29 families, which he treats in a very brief manner; we have a large number of interesting species in some of these families that are worthy of notice, for some of them are very serious pests to the gardener and orchardist. Sharp says: “Taken collectively, they may be defined as small flies with 3-jointed antennae (frequently looking as if only 2-jointed) bearing a bristle that is not terminally placed; frequently either destitute of squamae or hairy, these imperfectly developed so as not to cover the halteres; and possessing a comparatively simple system of neuration, the chief nervures being straight, so that consequently few cells are formed.”

The Diopsidae comprise in the typical Genus Diopsis some very curious looking flies, rather slender in form, with narrow wings, and the sides of the head produced into an elongate stalk, at the tip of which is placed the rounded eye, reminding one of the stalk-eyed crabs. Westwood monographed this genus in the Transactions of the Linnean Society 1835, where he figured and described 21 species from Africa, India and Java. I have two very fine species from North Queensland, belonging to the Genus Zygotricha, and a number of allied forms placed in the Genus Achias by Van der Wulp (Catalogue of the Described Diptera from South Asia 1896) recorded from New Guinea. The Stalk-eyed fly, Zygotricha sp., measures nearly ½ an inch in length, with the eyes measuring over ¼ of an inch from tip to tip; its general colour is yellowish brown, the face bright yellow; eyes black; thorax finely striped with grey; wings mottled; the curious angulated abdomen shining with metallic tints, and tipped with stout hairs.

The cosmopolitan “Skipper” in cheese, is the larva of Piophila casei; it pupates in a slender dark chrysalid; the small slender dark fly swarms round over-ripe cheese, fat, and other dried foods.

The little “Fruit Flies” belonging to the Drosophilidae, sometimes also known as “wine flies” from their habit of swarming round the freshly-filled wine casks, lay their eggs in decaying vegetable matter; they are often attracted to over-ripe fruit, and by their presence sometimes cause it to decay; they are common all over the world. The maggots sometimes found among pickles in vinegar and brine belong to flies of this group. Drosophila obscura, a tiny light brown fly with a dark coloured head, breeds in damaged tomatoes.

The Trypetidae comprise the true “fruit flies,” many of them very handsome little creatures; some of them form regular galls in the twigs of plants; others with their needle-like ovipositors puncture the ripening fruit, depositing their eggs beneath the skin; the maggots cause the fruit to rot, often before it can be gathered, and thus do a great deal of damage in Australian orchards. The Queensland Fruit-fly, Dacus (Tephritis) tryoni, ranges from Queensland (where it probably originally infested native bush fruits) into N.S. Wales, and is now a serious orchard pest in both States. It is a dull brown insect marked with yellow, about the size of a large house fly, with a rather wasp-shaped body, and large transparent wings. I have described several other allied species coming into Australia from the Islands in damaged fruit, “Notes on Fruit-maggot Flies with Descriptions of New Species” (Agr. Gazette N.S. Wales 1899). Dacus (Tephritis) psidii was bred out of guavas imported from New Caledonia; it is about ¼ of an inch in length; is dull yellow, with the thorax distinctly striped, and the abdomen black; the transparent wings are thickly mottled with brown. Tryon says that it is a common fruit-fly pest in Queensland, damaging bananas and other fruits. Trypeta musae was obtained from bananas brought from the New Hebrides: it is a slightly larger fly, with the head and thorax dull yellow; it has no distinct dorsal stripe on the thorax, and the wings are very thickly mottled. T. bicolor is a larger native species with reddish brown head and thorax; with black body; with beautifully mottled black wings having the base and sides unclouded. I have taken it on the trunks of wattle trees near Bathurst, N.S. Wales. The “Mediterranean Fruit Fly,” Ceratitis (Halterophora) capitata, first recorded from oranges brought from the Azores to London, was described by Macleay in 1826; it has a wide range, and was introduced into New South Wales some years ago; it is now one of the most serious pests that orchardists have to fight. It is a smaller more thickset fly than the Queensland pest, with the thorax dark metallic brown, and the wings richly variegated. The male is remarkable in having a pair of spatulate hairs, like a second pair of antennae, springing out in front between the eyes. Trypeta poenia is a tiny little fly with a grey pubescence over the thorax and abdomen; the thorax is finely mottled, and the delicate wings are very finely but thickly marked with dark brown; I have taken this species when beating the low scrub in the western country round Condobolin, N.S. Wales. Lonchaea splendida is a very brilliant metallic green fly with pale smoky wings; it is smaller than a house fly, with a much more elongated body; its larvae infest decaying tomatoes, potatoes, egg-fruit and other solanums; it has a wide range from the Pacific Islands and New Zealand, over Australia.

The family Ortalidae is represented here by a very handsome species, Ortalis coerulea; it is about the size of a house fly, with deep metallic blue thorax and banded black abdomen; the transparent wing is clouded with black at the base and the tip, and has a black V-shaped band in the centre. It is very common in summer usually resting on the foliage of the grass-trees, and can be easily captured with a net. Lamprogaster laeta is another fine species, with a wide range from Victoria to Queensland. It measures nearly ½ an inch from the front of the head to the tip of the body; the large semitransparent wings are blotched along the front with black. The dorsal surface and curious angular abdomen are deep metallic blue; the legs and under-surface reddish brown. I have usually found it on the highlands, and it is common on the Blue Mountains N.S.W. in the summer months.

The Agromyzidae are small yellow flies, sometimes marked with green; they puncture the tissue of plants and cause excrescences and galls upon the foliage and flower buds. One tiny species, Agromyza sp., attacks the midrib of the leaves of the “Blood-wood” (Eucalyptus corymbosa), common about Sydney; producing soft yellow spongy excrescences aborting all the young foliage. A. phaseoli is a great pest to the growers of french beans in the Gosford district N.S.W.; the fly inserts her eggs in the stem of the young plant just above the surface of the ground. It is a tiny black fly, with bluish tints on the body. It was described by Coquillett (Pro. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. 1899) from specimens I sent to him for identification.

The Phytomyzidae are small dark coloured flies, whose larvae are leaf miners; and several species are well known pests to the gardener. Phytomyza affinis breeds in the winter in the leaves of the sow thistle; the next generation swarm on the marguerites, sunflowers and many others of the Compositae, thereby causing them to wither and fall.

The Sapromyzidae contain a great number of small flies which are generally met with resting among the foliage when sweeping or beating the scrub in the early morning. They seldom have the wings spotted, and the abdomen is broader than that of the former group. The larvae feed under the bark of trees, or among decaying vegetation. Sapromyza fuscicornis is of a uniform pale brownish yellow, with dark eyes, and with scattered stout bristles on the thorax; it is a large species over ¼ of an inch in length to the tip of the closed wings. It has a wide range over Australia. S. decora is a very much smaller dark brown fly, with a fine white stripe on each side of the thorax extending across the sides of the head above the eyes. It is common in summer in the orchards among the orange trees.

In the members of the Genus Celyphus the scutellum is so abnormally inflated that it covers all the posterior parts of the body, so that these tiny shining black creatures are quite unlike the typical Diptera. A dark brown fly about the size of a house fly that has been described under the name of Batrachomyia nigritarsis by Skuse, is a parasite in the larval state on the back of several of our common frogs, where feeding under the skin it forms a regular blister; when full grown the larva makes its way through the skin, and pupates in the damp soil.

The Scatophagidae are slender, elongate, medium sized flies that can be bred out of dung or decaying vegetable matter, and are found in most parts of the world. Scatophaga guerini measures over ⅓ of an inch in length; it is of a dull greyish brown tint, marked on the head and thorax with parallel whitish bars, thickly clothed on the stout legs with fine hairs; and the long wings are folded over the back when at rest. It has a wide range; I have it from Sydney, and have bred it from the cylindrical white maggots in “toad-stools” collected on the banks of the Darling River, N.S. Wales.

The Genus Nerius (placed by Van der Wulp in the Sub-family Calobatinae, following the Sciomyzinae) is represented by two fine species common in North Queensland. They are very slender, long-legged flies, with long, straight-veined wings, rounded at the extremities, and folded over the narrow pointed abdomen; the head, which has a distinct neck, might be described as pear-shaped, with short, stout, lance-shaped antennae standing out in front, and elongate flattened eyes with a dorsal depression between them; the abdomen is elongate, oval; and both species, about the same size, measure ½ an inch in length. Nerius inermis, “the Banana-stalk Fly,” is of a uniform dull brown colour, with the dorsal surface of the head and thorax striped with white, and the whole of the under surface and thighs (except a brown comma-like mark on the sides) white. The slender white maggots feed in the ends of the decaying stalks of the bunches of Queensland bananas, forming elongate reddish brown chrysalids when they pupate; they are easily bred out in captivity. This species was originally described from the Nicobar Islands by Schiner; and has also been recorded from Celebes and Aroe. N. lineolatus, described by Wiedemann from Java, is common in North Queensland; it differs from the last species in having the dorsal surface more thickly and brightly striped with white, and the legs being barred with white.

Family 17. Anthomyia Flies.
ANTHOMYIDAE.

In general appearance they are very like the house fly, of small size and indefinite colour; they differ in the structure of the wings, and the eyes of the male are generally large and in contact; the antennae are bare or feathered. In their larval habits they vary very much: some are simply scavengers; others feed on living vegetation, and like the onion and cabbage flies are serious pests; and a few are parasitic. The family is a large one, and species are found in most parts of the world.

The common bluish fly resting on the decaying weed, and flying along in front when one is walking along the sea shore, belongs to the Genus Lispe; it looks like a house fly with longish legs and a pale tint.

Ophyra analis is a very common inland fly, and may be found swarming round dead sheep, or bred from pupae found under carrion lying in the bush. It is a shining blue black fly about the size of an ordinary house fly, and is lightly clothed with bristles on the sides of the thorax; it has a somewhat heart-shaped body, and clear wings. A second species, O. nigra, originally described by Wiedemann from China, is found in Australia, and is also recorded by Walker from the East Indies. It may be found swarming about dead sheep in summer. Phoania personata might be taken for a large house fly from the regular stripes on the thorax, but it is more thickly clothed with bristles, and the abdomen has a deep metallic blue tint. I have bred numbers from larvae pupating in rotting oranges piled on the ground. Limnophora ruficoxis is a somewhat smaller fly with the dorsal surface of the thorax and abdomen clothed with a dull buff pubescence; and the scutellum is smooth and shining. I have specimens from Sydney, N.S.W., and Gatton, Queensland.

Family 18. Parasite Flies.
TACHINIDAE.

This is one of the most useful groups of flies to the agriculturist, for nearly all the members deposit their eggs upon the living larvae of other insects such as the plant-destroying cut-worms, many different moths, and the grubs of our large saw-flies, and immature grasshoppers. This is a family of considerable extent, for over 1,000 species have been described from America alone, and in Van der Wulp’s Catalogue 187 species are listed from South Asia, but very little has been done in working up the Australian species.

In general appearance they are not unlike large house flies, but more bristly; the bristle of the third antennal joint is bare; the posterior cell of the wing almost or quite closed, and the large squamae cover the halteres. They attach their white eggs to the surface of the caterpillar with a gummy secretion, and it is quite common in summer time to find caterpillars thus infested, the perfect flies generally emerging from the pupal shell of their victim.

The members of the Genus Winthemia are rather large flies, parasitic upon the larvae of different moths; several American species are great checks upon the increase of the “Army worm” (Leucania unipuncta). Winthemia lata measures slightly under ½ an inch in length, and is thickset in proportion; it has a silvery face, with the brownish thorax covered with short stout bristles on the sides; the abdomen is black, with the sides and outer margin of the segments blotched with dull yellow; and the whole upper surface is lightly clothed with fine bristles. I have bred this fly from our Native Silkworm Moth (Antheroea eucalypti), from Lewin’s Moth (Ocinaria lewinae), and from an undetermined hawkmoth.

The Genus Miltogramma comprises a number of smaller flies common in Europe, which lay their eggs upon the captured prey of the sand wasps while the latter are placing them in their burrows in the ground; and not only does the parasitic fly larva devour the food supply, but also when that is finished, feeds on the baby wasp. An Indian species is parasitic upon one of the large plague locusts. I have a very handsome undetermined species from Southern Queensland which has the abdomen ringed with bright yellow bands; this would suggest that it may deposit its eggs in the underground chambers of a similarly banded Bembex. Another much smaller species, not unlike the house fly in size and general colouration, has the grey abdomen barred with black.

Family 19. Metallic Green Flies.
DEXIIDAE.

These flies differ from the Tachinidae, which they otherwise resemble, in having longer legs, and the bristle of the antennae pubescent or plumose. Australia is rich in large handsome species, often brightly marked with metallic tints; they are usually most plentiful in open forest country, often resting on tree trunks; when flying round they make a loud humming sound. Most of them are parasitic in their habits, depositing their eggs upon the larvae of lamellicorn beetles that are buried in the ground.

Chaetogaster violacea is of the usual thickset form, with a broad body and long pointed wings; it measures nearly 1 inch from the front of the head to the tips of the folded wings. It is of a general dark metallic blue colour, with the dorsal surface of the head and thorax marked with grey, and the whole insect is clothed with scattered black bristles. The wings are clouded with dull yellow on the basal half, giving it a very distinctive appearance. Amphibolia fulvipes is another very handsome and smaller fly with a broader body than the last, but the wings are shorter and clouded at the base; the head and legs are yellow; the rest black, with the thorax spotted behind and marked with a row of short broken parallel bars in front; the greater part of the abdomen above and below is creamy white mottled with seven bilobed blotches of black forming a pattern on the dorsal surface. It is found about Sydney and has a wide range on the eastern coast.

Amenia leonina is about ½ an inch in length with a more rounded abdomen. The large head is bright yellow, with the thorax and abdomen rich metallic blue; the sides of the thorax and abdomen are marked with several white circular dots, the last two on the tip of the abdomen very distinct. It is found in Tasmania, and ranges along the eastern coast of the mainland into Queensland.

The typical Genus Rutilia is well represented in Australia by a number of large, showy flies rich in metallic tints, and as a general rule not so thickly or coarsely clothed with bristles. Rutilia formosa, originally described from New Holland by Desvoidy, is not uncommon along the eastern coast in the summer months. It measures from ¾ to 1 inch in length; is of a general rich light metallic blue tint; the abdomen indistinctly barred with black is rich metallic coppery red, duller in the larger females, which have the abdominal segments more hirsute and bristly. The larvae are parasitic upon beetle grubs, probably those of the brown cockchafer (Anoplognathus). R. decora is about the same size and has much the same habits and range. The thorax is rich metallic blue, darker in front, with a row of short black bars; the abdomen is black with a double row of bright green metallic spots down the centre, the two at the anal tip largest. R. vivipara measures about 1 inch in length, with a wing expanse of 1½ inches; it is of a general dull greyish brown tint; the abdomen is lighter brown, and has a dark line down the centre and the sides and tips lightly clothed with grey hairs. R. inornata, about the same size as the last species, is a much darker fly; the abdomen is of a uniform dull shining black with grey hairs on the sides but none on the tip. Both these species have an extended range in forest country.

Myocera longipes has the general colouration of a house fly, with long, clear wings behind which are large white squamae; and it has very long slender legs. It has a curious habit of resting on the tree trunks with its long legs spread out in a very characteristic manner.

Plate XXIX.—DIPTERA.

Family Muscidae.

Family 20. Flesh Flies.
SARCOPHAGIDAE.

These flies differ from the true house flies in having the bristle of the antennae plumose at the base but fine and hair-like at the extremity. They lay their eggs or living larvae upon meat or other exposed food, and are also known as “Scavenger” flies because they frequent evil-smelling places like pig-sties and slaughter-yards. Some species are known to deposit their larvae in the nostrils of animals, and there are several records of the death of human beings from infestation by these maggots.

The typical Genus Sarcophaga is world-wide in its distribution, and contains a number of well known species. Sarcophaga aurifrons is our commonest species in Australia, and is also found in the Malay Archipelago. It is over ⅓ of an inch in length; the front of the head is golden; the large eyes deep red; the legs black; and the thorax and abdomen black but thickly clothed with silvery grey pubescence; the black shows through, forming three black bands on the front of the thorax; and the abdomen is mottled with indistinct spots. S. frontalis is a slightly larger species with the face very bright golden yellow; the black bars on the thorax finer and darker; and the abdomen mottled with a more irregular pattern. A much smaller species, hardly larger than a house fly, was described by Skuse (Agricultural Gazette N.S.W. 1891, p. 251) as a parasite of the plague locust; he named it Masicera pachytyli; this fly Mr. Coquillett says belongs to the Genus Sarcophaga. I have since bred a much larger species from the bodies of locusts in the Bombala district, N.S.W. Tachina oedipoda, described by Olliff (Agr. Gaz. N.S.W. 1891, p. 769), I am also informed by Mr. Coquillett, should be Sarcophaga oedipoda, and is closely allied to S. aurifrons: it also is a parasite on the same species of locust.

Family 21. House Flies.
MUSCIDAE.

This group comprises all the typical house flies, some of which are world-wide in their distribution. All of them have the bristle that forms the tip of the antennae hairy or plumose, while the abdomen is spineless, without bristles except at the extremity.

They deposit their eggs in stable manure or other decaying matter; the maggots, developing very rapidly in warm weather, form the usual hard parchment-like chrysalids from which the perfect flies emerge. Many interesting observations have been lately made on the habits of house flies and the danger of their spreading diseases by carrying germs or particles of putrid matter upon their feet, and thus contaminating food or transferring germs into open wounds; it was proved in the Spanish-American war that the swarms of flies had a great deal to do with the spread of fever in this manner. Musca domestica, the common house fly, is almost world-wide in its distribution, and is the chief species found inside the house. In the larval state it chiefly develops in stable manure. It measures about ¼ of an inch in length; is of a uniform black tint but is so thickly clothed with grey tomentum that it appears to be brown; the eyes are red; the thorax is clothed with stiff black bristles, and has four parallel bars down the centre of the dorsal surface. The freshly deposited eggs hatch within a day or two; the maggots develop within six days, and remain in the pupal state for only a few days in the summer; so that it is no wonder that they multiply with such marvellous rapidity, particularly when we discover that one house fly will lay over 1,000 eggs in the season. Musca corvina is a smaller darker tinted species, showing only two parallel stripes down the thorax. It is a common bush species and a great pest in the bush all through the summer, swarming in countless thousands from the eastern coast into the interior. It has a wide range over Europe, North America, Ceylon, and the Malay Archipelago. Stomoxys calcitrans is of a more brownish tint, with the abdomen more flattened, and it differs from the last two species in having a well developed biting mouth; this fly is a troublesome pest to horses, and will alight on one’s hand and bite quite sharply. It has a wide range from Europe across Asia to Ceylon, Java, and Australia.

The Genus Calliphora is well represented by several very distinct species of typical “Blow-flies”; but though the common European species, Calliphora vomitaria, is said to be common in New Zealand I have never taken it in Australia. C. villosa is our large common blow-fly; it measures about ½ an inch in length; is of a general slate grey colour with the abdomen thickly clothed with fine golden pubescence giving it a bright mottled yellow tint. C. oceaniae is the smaller blow-fly with a steely blue abdomen, the base on either side bearing a dull yellow blotch by which it can be easily distinguished. Both these species are found in the bush and in the house; they lay their eggs on any food they can gain access to; but in the summer, or when they cannot get at food in time, the egg is hatched in the body of the mother and dropped as a living maggot. Some of the bright metallic species also come in this Genus; C. rufifaces is a much smaller bright rich metallic blue fly, with a silvery face, red eyes, and white flaps behind the wings; it, and the much smaller C. varipes with a yellow face and darker tinted body, are common about dead sheep or decaying matter in the interior.

Plate XXX.—DIPTERA.

Family Muscidae.

Neocalliphora ochracea is somewhat thicker and broader than Calliphora villosa, and a much rarer species; it is of a general dull reddish brown colour, with the head and thorax darkest.

In the Genus Lucilia we have the typical “Bluebottle” flies, which are well represented in this country: Lucilia sericata and L. caesar, both of a moderate size and deep metallic green and coppery tints, are widely distributed. L. tasmaniensis is a larger species, measuring under ½ an inch in length; it is of a uniform bright metallic blue, and has a wide range.

Family 22. Bot-flies.
OESTRIDAE.

The members of this family are well known in most parts of the world in the larval state as “bots,” internal parasites in the stomach of the horse, in the nostrils of sheep, and the skins of cattle. The life history of the common European bot-fly, Gastrophilus equi, is well known; the active fly lays her eggs upon the shoulders or jaws of the horse, attaching them to the hair by a gummy secretion; the horse licking itself transfers the eggs into its mouth, where the tiny maggots hatch out and are carried down into the stomach. They are provided with a pair of fine curved hooks in front of the head by which these little creatures hook themselves into the membrane of the stomach, absorbing their nutriment from the liquid with which they are surrounded. When fully developed these oval spiny bots detach themselves and pass out with the excrement, the maggots at once burying themselves in the damp soil and pupating; the perfect fly emerges early in February in most parts of N.S. Wales. The flies, about ½ an inch in length, have large thickset bodies thickly clothed with short brown or golden hairs, giving them the general appearance of a hairy bee; the male has a short rounded abdomen; that of the female is greatly elongated and usually curled up underneath. There are probably several introduced species now common in Australia with a wide range over the country. It is remarkable that though they do not bite or sting the horses when laying their eggs, yet as soon as the horses hear the loud hum of the bot-fly they gallop about and show an inherited fear of this pest, which, though it does not kill them, must be a very unpleasant parasite when numerous. The members of the Genus Hypoderma are a very serious pest in Europe and other countries where they infest cattle, and are known both as “warble” or “bot-flies.” The fly lays her eggs upon the back of the beast; the tiny larva makes its way through the hide, beneath which it lives and feeds upon the putrid matter caused by the irritation of its presence; it finally produces an inflamed blister-like swelling or “warble,” eventually working its way out through the hide and falling to the ground, where it buries itself and pupates. No species have been found in Australia, but in some parts of England very serious damage is caused to the health of the beast, and the skin by being perforated loses value for making leather.

The Sheep Nostril Fly, Oestrus ovis, has a wide range over the world, and was probably introduced into Australia many years ago, though it has been noticed only quite recently as a serious pest. This fly lays living maggots in the nostril of the unfortunate sheep; the maggots work their way up into the frontal sinuses of the head, where they remain until fully developed, when they turn downward and are usually sneezed out by the sheep in their efforts to get rid of the obstruction. The fly is slightly under ½ an inch in length; the upper surface of the head and body are grey to dull yellow, spotted or mottled with darker tints; the abdomen is yellowish mottled with darker markings. It has been found chiefly in the Blue Mountains N.S.W.

Family 23. Louse or Spider Flies.
HIPPOBOSCIDAE.

These are parasitic Diptera, that having taken to idle and slothful habits (though some of them can fly very well), take up their quarters among the fur or feathers of different animals and birds, where they live and are carried about by their hosts. To suit this method of existence they have become quite altered in structure; they have flat leathery bodies, and their feet are produced into large pincer-like claws which enable them to cling to the skin of their host. Some have large wings with stout nervures but very rudimentary venation; a few though provided with wings at birth bite them off soon after; and others like the well known “sheep tick” are wingless.

As a rule their presence even when numerous does not seem to incommode the infested animals after they have become used to them, for the wild ponies in the New Forest in England are often covered with the horse-fly, Hippobosca equi, and they take no notice of them. Yet if one alights upon a horse unaccustomed to the presence of the fly he becomes almost crazy with fright, probably from the pinching or tickling sensation produced by their claws.

The Common European Sheep Tick, Melophagus ovinus, was introduced at a very early date into this country among the wool on the backs of sheep. It is a dark-brown, wingless creature thickly clothed with fine hairs, more like a stout-legged spider than a fly in general appearance, but it has not the requisite fourth pair of legs. These bristly legs are furnished with the usual stout curved claws, between which is a slender appendage like a short string, supposed to be used to hang on with by coiling it round the wool. From their blood-sucking habits and these pincer-like claws, they are very annoying to the sheep when numerous.

The Wallaby Louse Fly, Olfersia macleayi, is very common on small marsupials in Australia and Tasmania. When the dogs while hunting pull down and kill a wallaby, these flies generally crawl off and cling to the dog’s nose, rendering him very unhappy. It is a winged form, measuring under ½ an inch to the tip of the folded wings, and is of a uniform shining dark brown tint with a greenish shade very noticeable in the legs. Speiser (Annals Musei Nationalis Hungarici 1904) has placed this species in his Genus Ortholfersia.

Ornithomyia perfuga, taken on an owl (probably Spiloglaux boobook) near Brisbane, has been recently described by Dr. Speiser: it is a larger species of a more reddish brown colour. A very fine louse fly, also taken in Southern Queensland upon a white hawk, measures nearly ¾ of an inch to the tip of the folded wings, and has been identified by the same gentleman as Ornithoctona nigricans, described originally by Leach. Among the few other species described from Australia is one found on our pretty little emu wren, which was described by Schiner in the “Zoology of the Voyage of the Novara 1850” under the name of Ornithomyia stipituri. A number of our native birds act as hosts for these curious flies; the fruit pigeons, swallows, fly-catchers, and others are known to have them; and when they are systematically collected our list will probably be a large one.

The Nycteribiidae are another typical family of louse-flies found upon different bats, which are very small in comparison with the true louse-flies: they are always wingless, and have a world-wide distribution. They are reddish brown creatures covered with stout spines; the head is buried in the thorax; and the legs, very long and slender, terminate in immense pincer-shaped claws. Nearly all our bats are more or less infested with these “spider flies,” and several species have been described. Rainbow has recently described one under the name of Nycteribia pteropus from a flying fox taken at Batavia River, N. Australia (Records Australian Museum 1904).

Family 24. Fleas.
PULICIDAE.

The classification of the fleas has always been a matter of doubt; modern entomologists usually place them at the end of the Diptera, considering them a group of degraded flies that from their parasitic habits have become wingless, and have developed wonderful jumping powers; other specialists who have devoted much attention to the question consider them as worthy to rank in an Order, and follow Latreille, who called them Siphonaptera; other writers, like Taschenberg, who wrote his Monograph entitled “Die Flöhe” in 1880, formed them into distinct families. The latest revision of the family is Baker’s “Revision of American Siphonaptera, &c.” (Smithsonian Institute 1904); in this he gives a list of the described species, placing them in five families, and records a total of 134 species from all parts of the world.

Messrs. Jordan and Rothschild in a “Revision of the Sarcopsyllidae” (University of Liverpool 1906) criticise Baker’s classification, and reduce the families to four, extending the limits of the Family Sarcopsyllidae, and adding seven new species.

The flea differs from most other insects in having the whole wedge-shaped body vertically flattened. It is admirably adapted for crawling through hair or feathers, and the large stout spiny legs are well suited for jumping. The head, indistinctly separated from the body, is short, furnished with jointed antennae situated above but behind the eyes; the mouth is produced into a stout pointed proboscis with which it punctures the skin and sucks up the blood of its host. They are all of a more or less reddish brown tint, clothed with scattered stout bristles, and the abdomen is rounded at the apex; the legs are furnished with a pair of tarsal claws. The fact that fleas are capable of spreading the germs of plague and even leprosy has caused a great deal of attention to be devoted to this group, and they have during the last few years been sought for and collected from all parts of the world.

Two species are common in the house in Australia, of which the “domestic flea,” Pulex irritans, is too well known to need much description. They deposit their eggs, which are tiny ribbed crystalline spheres (very beautiful objects under the microscope) in the dry dust in cracks and crannies in the floor, or in the corners of badly-swept rooms. From these eggs hatch out slender, legless, transparent grubs with several short bristles on the anal extremity; these grubs feed upon the dust and, when full grown, spin a silken tube in which they pupate buried in the dust.

P. serraticeps is known as the dog and cat flea, though it is not uncommon at times in the house where animals are running about; but though it sometimes comes on man, it is an accidental infestation, and it gets away to its natural host as soon as it can escape. It can be easily distinguished from the common house flea by its more elongate form, and by the black comb-like spines fringing the back of the head and the first thoracic segment, which are absent in the former.

The Rat and Mouse Flea, P. fasciatus, is a paler coloured, more slender flea, also with a very extended range over the world. It is notorious as the species that, when living upon plague-infested rats, can transmit bubonic plague to man.

Denny (Annals and Mag. Nat. Hist. XII. 1843) has described another species, which he placed in this Genus, obtained from Tasmania and found upon the Echidna, and which he has called Pulex echidnae. About a dozen indigenous species have been recorded from Australia.

The Genus Echidnophaga was created by Olliff (Pro. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. 1886) to contain a species he described under the name of Echidnophaga ambulans; it is remarkable for its very long proboscis, and short legs which render it unable to jump. Large numbers of this flea were found upon a Porcupine Ant Eater (Echidna hystrix) in the Australian Museum. Messrs. Jordan and Rothschild in the Revision previously noticed place 8 species in Olliff’s Genus, adding two more to the Australian fauna, E. macronychia from West Australia found upon a small marsupial (Bettongia lesueuri), and E. liopus also from West Australia on Echidna aculeata, at the same time recording the last-named species upon rats at Agra, India. They give a number of additional hosts of E. ambulans, namely: the opossum, several other marsupials, and the brown snake; and they extend its range from Sydney to West Australia.

The Chicken Flea, E. gallinaceus, which they place in this Genus (originally described by Westwood under the generic name Sarcopsylla) though it has not been recorded from Australia has a range from America, Africa, and Russia to Fiji; it infests a great number of both wild and domestic animals and birds.

Skuse (Annals of the Australian Museum 1893) described a very curious flea, found in the pouch of a native cat (Dasyurus) which he called Stephanocircus dasyuri. I have since had the typical legless larvae, found also in the marsupial pouch of the same animal, and it is also common upon the bandicoot in Queensland. This flea has an elongate body, with the front of the head flattened and fringed with fine spines; it has no eyes.

Skuse is said to have described two species belonging to different genera as the sexes of his flea; and Rainbow in the same journal (Records Aust. Mus. 1905) proposes the name of Ceratophyllus rothschildi for the second. Rothschild has described two other species in this genus, C. hilli from N.S. Wales on the native cat, and a second, C. woodwardi, from W. Australia.