The house-fly, Musca domestica Linn: its structure, habits, development, relation to disease and control . esswarm on flies emerging from rubbish heaps. Banks holds theopinion that they are not parasitic, but that the insect is onlyused as a means of transportation. It is difficult to decide whetherthis is so in all cases. I have illustrated (fig. 71) a specimen of MITES BORNE BY MUSCID FLIES 157 the Lesser House-fly, F. canicularis, caught in a romu; on theunderside of thi flys abdonuii a number of immature Gamasidsare attached, apparently by th<ir stomal regions. Mr Micliafl, towhom I sub
The house-fly, Musca domestica Linn: its structure, habits, development, relation to disease and control . esswarm on flies emerging from rubbish heaps. Banks holds theopinion that they are not parasitic, but that the insect is onlyused as a means of transportation. It is difficult to decide whetherthis is so in all cases. I have illustrated (fig. 71) a specimen of MITES BORNE BY MUSCID FLIES 157 the Lesser House-fly, F. canicularis, caught in a romu; on theunderside of thi flys abdonuii a number of immature Gamasidsare attached, apparently by th<ir stomal regions. Mr Micliafl, towhom I submitted these mites, said that it was extremely difficultto identify immature Gamasids owing to the scarcity of our know-ledge as to their life-histories, but he stated that they were verylike Dinychella asperata Berlese. These specimens may be truly parasitic, as I am inclined tobelieve, since many Acari are parasitic in the immature state,although the adults may not be so; on the other hand this formof attachment may be employed as a means of maintaining a wun-asecure hold of the transporting Fig. 71. Thoraco-abdominal region of Fannia , ? , showing Gamasidsattached to the ventral side of the abdomen. Ewing (1913) describes a new species of Gamasid mite Macro-cheles muscae which is parasitic on M. domestica, always attachingitself, according to the author, in a deflnite place, namely, at thebase of the abdomen on its ventral side, the anterior end of thelarva being directed forwards. It feeds on the host. Its colour isdark yellowish brown; length 097 mm., width 062mm. It hasbeen found in the States of Oregon and New York. Hamer (1909) records Gamasid mites as particularly affectingMuscina stabiilans, especially in early June. 158 ARACHNIDS AND MYRIAPODS Berlese (1912) has reared what he considers to be the Acarusmuscarum of Linnaeus from the Stable-ily, Muscina stabulans,and finds that the adult belongs to the genus Histiostoma. Healso illustrates two Acar
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