Memoirs: The Structure, Development, and Bionomics of the House-fly, Musca domestica, Linn : Part I.--The Anatomy of the Fly

1. The exoskeleton of the head capsule and of the pharynx is described in detail; the relations of the parts in the terms generally employed by dipterologists to the morphological divisions of the insect head capsule are shown. On morphological grounds, the view that the distal portion of the proboscis represents the modified second maxillar or labium is adopted, as opposed to that of a first maxillar derivation put forward by Lowne for the blowfly.

2. After a detailed description of the external and internal skeletal structures of the thorax, the neuration of the wings is described in the terms proposed by Comstock and Needham in their valuable memoir; and to facilitate their more general adoption for the wings of the Muscidas and other Diptera, a comparison is made between their nomenclature and the several systems employed in describing the muscid wing.

3. The abdomen is shown to consist of eight segments in the male and nine in the female, in both cases the first five segments form the visible portion of the abdomen; the external genitalia of the two sexes are described under another section.

4. As the muscular system does not differ from that of Volucella described by Kunckel d'Herculais and the blowfly described by Hammond and Lowne, it is briefly described. The cephalic muscles, however, are fully described in the detailed description of the head (V).

5. The nervous system, which is of the normal muscid type, is described, but for the sake of clearness a very detailed description of the composition of the cephalic ganglion is not given. The structure of the optic tract is similar to that of the blowfly as described by Hickson. The structure of the thoracic nerve-centre is found to differ slightly from that of the blowfly as described by Lowne.

6. The alimentary canal is similar in its structure to those of Stomoxys and Glossina, only differing in a few details. The mesenteric region, which is represented by the ventriculus or chyle, stomach, and proximal intestine, is well developed. The lingual salivary glands, rectal glands, and Malpighiau tubes are described; the function of the rectal glands is believed to be of an excretory nature.

7. As the tracheal systems of the Diptera have not received much attention a detailed account of the tracheal system is given. There are two thoracic spiracles, the first of which supplies the whole of the head, the anterior and median regions of the thorax and the three pairs of legs, and by means of a pair of large abdominal air-sacs a large part of the viscera. The posterior thoracic spiracle supplies the muscles of the median and posterior region of the thorax, especially the large dorsales muscles. There are seven pairs of abdominal spiracles in the male and five pairs in the female all of which are connected with tracheae only.

8. The dorsal vessel or heart is found to consist of five incomplete chambers, each with a pair of ostia. The anterior end is continued forwards along the dorsal side of the ventriculus, and terminates in a glandular mass in the anterior margin of the proventriculus.

9. The reproductive organs of the male are simple, consisting of a pair of testes, vasa deferentia, and common ejaculatory duct; there are no accessory glands such as are found in many other Diptera. The terminal abdominal segments of the male exhibit a sinistral asymmetry.

The ovaries of the female, when mature, occupy the greater portion of the abdominal cavity. There are a pair of accessory glands (probably of a "gum" or "glue" nature), three spermatheceæ, and a pair of vesicles used during copulation. The ovipositor is about as long as the abdomen, and is composed of segments six to nine.

10. The musculature of the head is described in detail, and it is found that the House-fly agrees with the blowfly in the number and relations of its cephalic muscles, though in a few cases the attachments are slightly different. In the haustellum and oral lobes of the House-fly no tracheal sacs similar to those described and figured by Lowne for the blowfly occur, but only annulated tracheae are found, and, as these are incapable of distension, the view that the oral lobes are distended by the action of inflated air cannot be held. The extension of the proboscis I believe is due to the inflation of the tracheal sacs of the head and rostrum, and I agree with Kraepelin that the distension of the oral lobes is effected by blood-pressure.

Two kinds of gustatory sense-organs are found on the margin of the aboral and on the oral surfaces respectively. The latter were described in the blowfly by Lowue as the openings of the ducts of the labial salivary glands, but Kraepelin's correct description of their structure in the blowfly is confirmed by this study of the House-fly. The labial salivary glands are described in detail. They consist of large cells containing permanent vacuoles, which communicated with intracellular ducts. These open by a pair of pores into the oral pits, the secretions of the glands serving to keep the surface of the oral lobes moist.