During a stint in Australia, studying the local dung flies, Ferrar got a
revelation. He realized that the superficially similar larvae of cyclorrhaphous
Diptera were actually showing a wide variety of morphology and habits. After
carefully reading the three-volume masterpiece "Die Larvenformen der
Dipteren" by Dr. Willi Hennig and browsing over 2,000 relevant papers,
Ferrar got another Damascus Road experience and decided to summarize all this knowledge
(and then some) in a two-volume work all his own.
Thus was born "A guide to the breeding habits and immature stages of Diptera Cyclorrhapha. Ento-monograph volume 8". The first volume contains the text, the second contains figures. Both volumes together cover about 900 pages and should be sold under one cover.
And no, I'm not mocking the author. He really does say all of the above in an introduction. Well, sort of.
The book does indeed contain extremely detailed information on the immature stages of various flies, both the maggots and the puparia. However, there are also somewhat shorter presentations of the various families.
Yes, maggots. This is actually a book about maggots?!
It also includes some interesting information on the "grown ups". Apparently, flies of the family Coelopidae breed in stranded seaweed. After storms that wash up large amounts of such they may undergo a population explosion and achieve a temporary nuisance value in coastal resorts. However, in lieu of seaweed, coelopid flies can breed pretty much anywhere: penguin rookeries, the hollow in a discarded tooth of sea elephant (at least I hope it was discarded!), or elephant seal carcasses. Dead gulls work just as fine. Not to be outdone, the Conopidae are parasitic on honeybees and bumblebees. They are more choosy, however, than their coelopid cousins - all reports about conopid attacks on grasshoppers have proven false! Presumably, locusts aren't kosher if you're a conopid fly!
OK, I'm not sure how to rate this super-scholarly reference work on maggots, but eventually I award it four stars for the effort.
Thus was born "A guide to the breeding habits and immature stages of Diptera Cyclorrhapha. Ento-monograph volume 8". The first volume contains the text, the second contains figures. Both volumes together cover about 900 pages and should be sold under one cover.
And no, I'm not mocking the author. He really does say all of the above in an introduction. Well, sort of.
The book does indeed contain extremely detailed information on the immature stages of various flies, both the maggots and the puparia. However, there are also somewhat shorter presentations of the various families.
Yes, maggots. This is actually a book about maggots?!
It also includes some interesting information on the "grown ups". Apparently, flies of the family Coelopidae breed in stranded seaweed. After storms that wash up large amounts of such they may undergo a population explosion and achieve a temporary nuisance value in coastal resorts. However, in lieu of seaweed, coelopid flies can breed pretty much anywhere: penguin rookeries, the hollow in a discarded tooth of sea elephant (at least I hope it was discarded!), or elephant seal carcasses. Dead gulls work just as fine. Not to be outdone, the Conopidae are parasitic on honeybees and bumblebees. They are more choosy, however, than their coelopid cousins - all reports about conopid attacks on grasshoppers have proven false! Presumably, locusts aren't kosher if you're a conopid fly!
OK, I'm not sure how to rate this super-scholarly reference work on maggots, but eventually I award it four stars for the effort.
Who´s calling me maggot, punk?
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