Blue-bottle Fly

Blue-bottle Fly (Musca vomitoria), an insect of the same genus with the common House-fly (q.v.). It much exceeds the latter in size, but is smaller than the Blow-fly (q.v.). The head is black, with rust-coloured cheeks, the thorax grayish, the abdomen blue, with a whitish shimmer, and with three black bands. It flies with a loud buzz. The expanse of wings is nearly one inch. It is abundant throughout Britain and Europe generally from spring to autumn, and deposits its eggs on flesh, for which purpose it often enters houses, having a remarkably delicate sense of smelling. The maggots are of very frequent occurrence on meat in summer, notwithstanding all care that can be taken.—M. erythrocephala is also called Blue-bottle.—A nearly allied species (M. caesar), the Green-bottle fly, is distinguished by its golden-green colour, and is also common in Britain, especially on excrement. The maggots develop from the egg in about twenty-four hours; the whole metamorphosis occupies about a month. M. cornicina is another common green-bottle. There are many other species. See FLY.