INSECT PESTS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 2, Issue 105, 3 January 1940, Page 3

INSECT PESTS

SUMMERTIME VISITORS THE COMMON HOUSE-FLY HOUSEHOLDERS' OBLIGATIONS The advent of warmer weathc. has brought <i reminder of the les:> pleasant things of summer—tlic insect pests. The most common of these is the house-lb', which, while in itself not so harmful to the human race as perhaps the mosquito, nevertheless constitutes a more permanent and potential source of danger. While the mosquito injects jjoison secretions into the bloodstream, the lly disseminates disease through tactAs writers and research workers have pointed out, the lly harbouis on its body bacteria and vermin. If one observes "Musca Domestic^" to give the fly its scientific name —under a microscope, it can be seen that the hairs which cover its body arc crawling with vermin. The Ilv in the sugar basin is therefore not a pleasant thought. Inseci Versus Man.

The struggle between man and insects is, and lias been a vital one. Evolutionary, the insect has a more highly complicated organism than Ave possess. The branches of the insect Avorld, too, have evolved a culture or civilisation infinitely superior in many respects to that of the homo specie. It is not complimentary to our vanity Avhen Ave realise that the insect accomplished aeons ago what avc are still trying to realise —complete organisation of production, distribution and protection. Procreation through selection, an orderly life for the Avhole body, and no internecine strife, are features of the civilisations of the bee and the ant. "Look to the ant, thou sluggard . We realise the competition man faces from this source Ave see that the insect problem is a very real one. The insect has the advantage of the most potent Aveapon —disease —which it disseminates quietly and thoroughly. Science realises this, and has devised Ayays and means of combating it. But it is omnipotent j without the full co-operation of the

people. In this vital matter, the recentlypublished work of Mr D. McCready Armstrong. J.P., of Pukekohe, "Man; and the Housefly," comes as a welcome addition to the authoritative works already available on the subject. But, for this country, at least, Mr Armstrong's work, a copy of which has been received by the Gazette Office, is especially valuable, as it deals with the problem of the insect pest more particularly as il affects New Zealand. Mr Armstrong, a well known resident of Pukekohe. is a dental surgeon by profession, and has made a life study of entomology, especially in regard to the common housefly, in the habits of which he has made some valuable and original research. His boolc, which is the product of 20 years' study, is written in simple, non-lechnical terms, and is profusely illustrated with a series of micro-photographs made by the author in his laboratory. Stressing in his work that "the lly thrives on filth and decaying substances," and that "in reality the housefly is the product of man's insanitation," Mr Armstrong emphasised that the most effective way of controlling this unwelcome pest is by destroying possible hatching places for its eggs; i.e., in spite of what scientific research can and does do, it can have little effect without the full co-operation of the people. "Man; and the Housefly," the distribution of which is in the hands of Messrs Reed Brothers, is now in the course of preparation for its second edition. It may be mentioned, in conclusion, that a copy of Mr Armstrong's book, forwarded to Buckingham Palace, was recently accepted by His Majesty, King George V.