A Review of the Life-history and Habits of the Horn Fly, Siphona irritans (L.) (Diptera: Muscidae)

Abstract

A co-operative investigation to discover the factors necessary for egg production in the horn fly, Siphona irritans (L.), was begun in 1950 at the Lethbridge laboratory and the Department of Bacteriology, University of Alberta, Edmonton. Although there is an extensive literature on the horn fly, comparatively few publications deal exclusively with its life-history and habits. Information on the biology of this insect is found in a widely scattered literature dealing with muscids or dung-breeding insects in general. The dearth of information in recent years on this economically important insect may be caused in part by the fragmentary literature. This paper is a review of the available information on the life-history and habits of the horn fly, along with observations of the authors.