Texas Nature Observations and Reminiscenses Page: 31
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TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 31
Sprinkle lime or crude carbolic
acid or kerosene oil, or boiling
hot water with a sprinkling can
once every week-but thoroughly
-on all manure piles and other
filth around the yard, and note
the decided absence of the fly
pest around your kitchen and
dining-room in a short time and
during the hot summer months
to come. Try it and do it the
year around, and thus avoid such
insects as depicted herein from
nature from daily and constantly
annoying you and creeping into
your soup, milk cans, foodstuffs,
etc. It is to our own interest
to do something and to keep it
up during the warm season.
As is well known a fly's head-
parts consists of the two dark
and globular eyeballs and the
mouth parts at its interior base-
comprising the protruding, long
tongue or proboscis; and, in such
genera of flies which sting-with
extra stinging implements-knives
and dagger-like implements which
the insects gradually work into
the skin tissues and capillary
layers until blood oozes, which
is then absorbed by special suction
tubules. The mouth parts vary
considerably in different species
of flies; the common housefly,
and as seen on the microscopic
photo above, being void of special
knives and daggers, but supplied
with a long tongue or suction
tube (1 and 2 on photo.)This tongue of our common
fly species is wonderfully composed
of a network of delicate absorption
tubules (at 1) which during the
act of feeding is supplied by aid
of the muscular and very flexible
neck part of the tongue's body
(at 2) and communicates at the
inner base of the flies head and
thorax with the stomach.
The eyeball of the common fly
consists of numerous prismatic
segments (4) which vary but little
in various fly species, though some
show more or less arranged lense
segments.
In the vicious fly species these
lense segments seem to be more of
a cubic formation; however, they
vary slightly in appearance during
microscopic and photomicrographic
reproduction-according to the an-
gle of light reflex applied to
illuminate such otherwise invisible
objects.
In the common housefly, as
stated, the tongue's suction appara-
tus consists of numerous hair-fine
capillary tubules arranged in spiral-
shape at the apex or lobe of the
tongue with which the fly sips its
food and absorbs it through these
delicate capillary loops.
In some of the vicious prairie
flies and the cattle fly there exists a
combination of such suction appar-
ati-besides the tongue with which
the fluids are aspirated after
scarifying their victims with their
powerful sting implements.Some Rare Prairie Flies
Our Texas prairie conceals a
large variety of more or less
vicious fly species among which
the so-called humpback fly and
the horse fly will be considered
here.
One of the prairie fly pictures
shows same in the act of carrying
its victim-a black wasp.
Among the numerous and various
types of prairie flies, for insta nce.
there exists a peculiar and not
generally known type of a mostpeculiar fly species which, in one
way also, is a useful fly, as it
attacks and destroys wasps and
other vituperous insects. This fly
has somewhat the general ap-
pearance of a wasp itself, but
it has such peculiar and characteris-
tic anatomical arrangements that
I am sure these insects belong
to the fly family, for these reasons:
First, they have the same number
of haired feet, with the characteris-
tic footclaws and footpads, and
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Menger, R. Texas Nature Observations and Reminiscenses, book, 1913; San Antonio, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth143558/m1/35/?q=menger: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting University of Texas Health Science Center Libraries.