Blue bottle fly

“ So I sit there kicking my heels, thinking about New Orleans, and watching a morbid blue-bottle fly that attempts to commit suicide by butting his head against the window-pane. ”

“ After emerging from the ground, the fly withdraws the bag-like extrusion and cleans itself. Its body soon grows fit and it becomes very active, as long as daylight and warm weather favour it; otherwise it seeks shelter and becomes quiescent; however, artificial light and heat will awaken it to nocturnal activity. Sweets, carrion, and filth are all attractive to the blue-bottle, but the house-fly and the lesser house-fly also find extraordinary attraction in both man and his dwelling. ”

“ Any one, as I have said before, on the most casual observation must realise that the wings of a Blue-bottle and the wings of a May-fly do not lie in quite the same position in relation to the body.
There are many Diptera which come under the names of Blue- and Green [Pg 60] -bottles, but as they are very similar in appearance it is only necessary to vary the size, as the trout are probably not sufficiently scientifically educated to discriminate between the different species. ”

“ GENERAL LIFE HISTORY Whereas the blue-bottle rarely enters the dwellings of mankind, except gravid females led by the sense of smell in search of fish, or flesh meat, and (less eagerly) sweets, both species of house-fly and both sexes seem to delight in the mere odour of humanity; breeding females will seek the larder and the dust-bin, but others will very provokingly pervade all quarters. Although avoiding a dark or deeply shaded room, the house-fly seems to like partial shade ”

“ The blue-bottle can withstand temperatures a few degrees colder than can those flies to which she is nearest akin; and she seems capable somehow of sheltering herself better. Even as late as the middle of winter, sometimes, a dead bird may be found to be fly-blown under circumstances which indicate that the eggs must have been laid in frosty weather, when flies are not seen at large. ”

“ I have on many occasions watched the behaviour of an Alder when it has fallen on the water. At first it moves its wings rapidly, but soon stops, to begin again, however, when it has rested. This is repeated time after time, but after each succeeding struggle, the interval of rest becomes longer. In many cases, however, the fly hardly struggles at all.
In observing many other flies which had fallen on the water, I have seen the same sequence of events occur, though some flies struggle to raise themselves from the surface much more than others, as in the case of the Blue-bottle. ”

“ The pattern of the first figure illustrates the wing of the common blue-bottle; here "vein 4" does not run at all straight in the last part of its course, but curiously bends very suddenly upwards at an angle and meets the margin very near to "vein 3." In the wing of a large blue-bottle it will be easy to recognise this plan.
The pattern of the second figure is rather similar, for the vein 4 likewise has a sudden bend upwards; it terminates practically contiguous with vein 3 at the margin. This pattern is characteristic of the "house-fly" ”

“ Strong smelling and saccharine foods immensely attract the blue-bottle and the wasp, which are thus enticed indoors and induced to become occasional visitors to our tables; but the house-fly requires little of such lures; indoors she is an inquisitive prospector, who will never pass by any moist material without testing its quality. Moreover, the use of poisoned milk, or even jam, should be rather avoided for fear of injury to dog or cat; furthermore, it is dangerous to place a piece of bread in a saucer of liquid fly-poison, as is sometimes done, to serve as a sop and as a standing stage. ”

“ Amongst half-a-dozen rarer kinds of smaller grey blow-flies the females differ in their striped markings, but their respective males seem quite indistinguishable apart.
Notwithstanding the prodigious fecundity of the grey blow-fly, the credit of being a practically useful scavenger of carrion must be given only to the blue-bottle, which is of a more robust habit, and which so promptly monopolises available matter that Sarcophaga carnaria and her congeners are sometimes, perforce, compelled to give their larvæ a mere vegetarian diet. ”

“ The robust blue-bottle very closely resembles the house-fly in an inclination to spread the brood. Mature females, however, do sometimes show a slight temporary kind of "homing" instinct; having secured a cosy corner and a well sheltered retreat in a sunny wall, the occupant will battle for its possession, buffeting new comers.
Some of the smaller filth flies and many of the fungus flies have their lives, in the imago stage, influenced and shortened by their extra early sexual maturity; the females are fertilised whilst newly hatched and their wings limp and unfolded. ”

“ The larvæ of the genus Volucella are found dwelling in the nests of bumble-bees and wasps; it is rather uncertain how far they are commensal, or parasitic, or devourers of dead matter. Some of the syrphid flies are single-brooded, but some at least are double or treble-brooded in the year; records are wanting about many, and which, if any other than the common drone-fly, are multi-brooded. Anyhow, none appears to breed in Great Britain as rapidly as do the house-fly, the blue-bottle, and other muscid flies. ”

“ Every mind instantly conjured up the picture of a vivid figure in a frock that gleamed blue as sulphurous flames. A hysterical woman sprang up screaming shrilly, and had to be taken away; a solitary sea gull, its plumage shining with a weird blueness in the electric light, chose this moment to fly low along the deck, crying its wailing cry. ”

“ The author of those offences is Calliphora vomitoria, the bluebottle, who is of a stouter build and arrayed in darkest blue. It is she who buzzes against our windowpanes, who craftily besieges the meat safe and who lies in wait in the darkness for an opportunity to outwit our vigilance. The other, the grey fly, works jointly with the greenbottles, who do not venture inside our houses and who work in the sunlight. Less timid, however, than they, should the outdoor yield be small, she will sometimes come indoors to perpetrate her villainies. ”

“ The blue-bottle flies blow among blankets that are left lying untidily about, but if the same be neatly folded up and present no crumpled creases, the flies will leave them alone. It is strange, too, that, though flies will blow a dead sheep almost immediately, they will not touch one that is living and healthy. Coupling their good nature in this respect with the love of neatness and hatred of untidiness which they exhibit, I incline to think them decidedly in advance of our English bluebottles, which they perfectly resemble in every other respect. ”

“ Hot sunshine seems to afford perfect bliss to almost every kind of fly, and in that condition we see them basking on leaves in great profusion. Bluebottles, the golden greenbottle, the drone-fly, all the highly coloured, swift-darting sunflies—these are constantly to be found poised on the laurels, although only for a few moments’ rest between their aerial games. It gives one a sense of pleasure to watch anything so absolutely happy as these creatures seem. ”

“ Your noisy people generally grow taciturn in their cups—but Sir Blue-bottle, though he drinks deep draughts of your wine, particularly if it abound in sweetness, is never changed. He is naturally giddy, and according to entomologists, always sees more than double, while his head was never made to be turned. ”

“ If the fall is broken by the toes, and the new leaf or branch is very elastic and bends down, then there are some frantic antics to be gone through until the frog has settled itself again. Then the large blue-bottle, or the butterfly, is devoured at leisure, wings and all being poked in with the assistance of the little hands. ”

“ This weakness for beer is one of the causes of his undoing. An empty beer bottle will attract him in hosts, and once inside he never gets out. He is indeed the easiest creature to deal with that flies on wings. He is excessively stupid and unsuspicious. A fly will trust nobody and nothing, and has a vision that takes in the whole circumference of things; but a wasp will walk into any trap, like the country bumpkin that he is, and will never have the sense to walk out the way he went in. ”

“ Melancholy people can drink more than others. Besides, what does such a bottle hold? I will show you. A tumbler to you, and one to me. Drink; you shall see."
He emptied his glass and poured the remainder of the bottle into it.
"Do you see? Half a tumbler. Two and a half are a bottle. Seven bottles are seventeen and a half glasses. What is that for you or me in a long evening? My blue devils are large. It would take an ocean to float them all. I insist upon going to bed in a good humour to-night, for once, in honour of my daughter's engagement. By the bye, Griggs, what do you think of Reanda?" ”

“ I've seen the parfumerie the snake pit, mongoose burrowing into the hills after serpentine fer-de-lance, want bigger things waves can't splash away, scrawled slogans to turn the human tide. A bottle sits menacingly on the table -- a universe on its own, imagine her little water droplets the key to unerstanding a woman firm to the grasp bare-shouldered, lips to the moon in twilight. ”

“ It is enough to say that the needful things are a large net of soft green gauze, a killing-bottle with a glass stopper, a cork-lined box with a supply of pins in which to carry the butterflies after they are dead, and setting boards for use at home. The good collector is very careful in transferring the butterfly from the net to the bottle, lest its wings are rubbed or broken ”

“ Sticks through! Pulls the whole
counter-pulling mass upward, to the right,
locks even the opaque, not yet defined
ground in a terrific drag that is
loosening the very tap-roots!
On a tissue-thin monotone of blue-grey buds
two blue-grey birds, chasing a third,
at full cry! Now they are
flung outward and up—disappearing suddenly! ”

“ A piece of cheese cloth, fitted over the hat to hang down over the face, will protect that part of your anatomy from insects (Fig. 246) , but if they are not very bad use fly dope (Fig. 251) , and add a bottle of it to your pocket outfit. One doesn't look pretty when daubed up with fly dope, but we are in the woods for sport and adventure and not to look pretty. Our vanity case has no lip stick, rouge or face powder; it only possesses a toothbrush and a bottle of fly dope. ”

“ The Stillness in the Room
Was like the Stillness in the Air —
Between the Heaves of Storm —
The Eyes around — had wrung them dry —
And Breaths were gathering firm
For that last Onset — when the King
Be witnessed — in the Room —
I willed my Keepsakes — Signed away
What portion of me be
Assignable — and then it was
There interposed a Fly —
With Blue — uncertain stumbling Buzz —
Between the light — and me —
And then the Windows failed — and then
I could not see to see— ”

“ This defensive armor alone, while leaving ample room for the air to circulate, makes any invasion by the worms impossible, even without a cover or a meat safe: not that paper possesses any special preservative virtues, but solely because it forms an impenetrable barrier. The Bluebottle carefully refrains from laying her eggs upon it and the flesh fly from bringing forth her offspring, both of them knowing that their newborn young are incapable of piercing the obstacle.
Paper is equally successful in our strife against the Moths, those plagues of our furs and clothes. ”

“ A conspicuous black line reaching from the corner of the mouth back through the eye is a diagnostic feature of his plumage, while his crown and breast gleam in bright yellow, almost golden in the sunshine; his wings and tail are blue-gray, with some white trimmings, and his back and rump are bright olive There you have an array of colors that makes a picture indeed. Madame Blue-wing wears the same pattern as her lord, but the hues are less brilliant. ”

“ As often as not, your flies and the fish part company in the air, and you have to sit down muttering "curses not loud but deep," till an application to the flask soothes your wounded spirit, and invigorates you for fresh effort. A beautiful sight it is to see a sea-trout rise. No half-hearted attempt is his, but a determined rush for the fly, and down again like thought, leaving you the tiniest part of a moment to strike, and hardly time to admire his beautiful silvery coat. ”

“ When flying in flocks in clear sunny weather, the blue of their wings glistens like polished steel, so as to give them the most lively appearance; and while they are wheeling over the places in which they intend to alight, their wings being alternately thrown in the shade and exposed to the bright light, the glowing and varied lustre thus produced, at whatever distance they may be, draws your eyes involuntarily towards them. ”

“ As we preserve the fragrance of a flower By drawing off its essence in a bottle, Where color, fluttering leaves, are thrown away To get the inner passion of the flower Extracted to a bottle that a queen May act the flower's part. ”

“ We may protect ourselves against the Bluebottle, who is not much inclined to lay her eggs at a distance from the meat; but there is still the flesh fly, who is more venturesome and goes more briskly to work and who will slip the grubs through a hole in the meshes and drop them inside the safe. Agile as they are and well able to crawl, the worms will easily reach anything on the floor; the only things secure from their attacks will be the pieces hanging from the ceiling. ”

“ As a bluebottle, I think I should have enjoyed life—as a young one certainly; an elderly bluebottle gets bloated, slow, and gouty, losing his sense of humour. He grows infirm of purpose, too, and forgets to return to the same spot on a bald head after the eighteenth time of chasing off—the eighteenth time being really just when the fun begins. Sometimes he passes over a red nose altogether, probably from a fear of aggravating the gout in his feet. I am a little more doubtful about the giraffe. ”