Handbook of Medical EntomologyRiley, William A. (William Albert)
Science
Handbook of Medical Entomology
Riley, William A. (William Albert)
Insect pests; Insects as carriers of disease; Medical parasitology
Flies may travel for a considerable distance to reach food and shelter,
though normally they pass to dwellings and other sources of food supply
in the immediate neighborhood of their breeding places. Copeman, Howlett
and Merriman (1911) marked flies by shaking them in a bag containing
colored chalk. Such flies were repeatedly recovered at distances of
eight to one thousand yards and even at a distance of seventeen hundred
yards, nearly a mile.
Hindle and Merriman (1914) continued these experiments on a large scale
at Cambridge, England. They "do not think it likely that, as a rule,
flies travel more than a quarter of a mile in thickly-housed areas." In
one case a single fly was recovered at a distance of 770 yards but a
part of this distance was across open fen-land. The surprising fact was
brought out that flies tend to travel either _against_ or across the
wind. The actual direction followed may be determined either directly by
the action of the wind (positive anemotropism), or indirectly owing to
the flies being attracted by any odor that it may convey from a source
of food. They conclude that it is likely that the chief conditions
favoring the disposal of flies are fine weather and a warm temperature.
The nature of the locality is another considerable factor. Hodge (1913)
has shown that when aided by the wind they may fly to much greater
distances over the water. He reports that at Cleveland, Ohio, the cribs
of the water works, situated a mile and a quarter, five miles, and six
miles out in Lake Erie are invaded by a regular plague of flies when the
wind blows from the city. Investigation showed that there was absolutely
nothing of any kind in which flies could breed on the crib.
The omnivorous habits of the house-fly are matters of everyday
observation. From our view point, it is sufficient to emphasize that
from feeding on excrement, on sputum, on open sores, or on putrifying
matter, the flies may pass to the food or milk upon the table or to
healthy mucous membranes, or uncontaminated wounds. There is nothing in
its appearance to tell whether the fly that comes blithely to sup with
you is merely unclean, or whether it has just finished feeding upon
dejecta teeming with typhoid bacilli.
[Illustration: 100. Pulvillus of foot of house-fly, showing glandular
hairs.]
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