Further Observations on the Habits and Parasites of Common Flies

Abstract

In the year 1915 the flies caught in traps baited with various materials and placed in different situations were recorded, and charts constructed showing the effects of various meteorological conditions on flies. “These charts showed that the curve for flies caught in traps corresponded most closely to the curve for the maximum temperature recorded by a thermometer exposed to the sun” (1916, 497 and Chart 5). During the years 1916 and 1917 traps baited daily with human excrement were exposed in sunny situations, and the flies caught in them recorded. Records of the hours of bright sunshine, of the rainfall, the velocity of the wind, the maximum temperatures indicated by thermometers exposed to the sun and in. the screen, the minimum temperatures in the screen and on the grass were kept. From these observations it was possible to compare the effects of meteorological conditions on flies in three consecutive seasons.