162 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XVIII. 



BLOOD-SUCKING FLIES, TICKS, &c, AND HOW 

 TO COLLECT THEM. 



In view of the possible importance of Blood-sucking Arthropoda, other than 

 Mosquitoes and Tsetse-flies, in the dissemination of diseases due to micro- 

 organisms, in addition to the knowledge that certain maladies are actually 

 carried by Ticks, it is proposed to publish a series of monographs in which 

 these creatures and their bionomics shall be fully and accurately described and 

 illustrated. Since, however, the material already available in the collection of 

 the British Museum is insufficient for this purpose, carefully collected and pro- 

 perly labelled specimens of Blood-suckinp Flies, Ticks, etc., are now urgently 

 required from all parts of the world. With a view to assist medical men and 

 others who may be willing to help in the collection of specimens, the follow- 

 ing pages contain — (i) Notes on Blood -sucking Flies, other than Mosquitoes ; 

 (ii) Directions as to the way in which these insects should be collected and 

 forwarded to England ; (iii) Notes on collecting Fleas, Bugs, and Ticks. 



PART I. 

 Notes on Blood = sucking Flies, other than Mosquitoes. 

 H )w to distinguish Flies (Diptera) from other Insects. 

 The presence of a pair of little knobbed organs (the halteres or balancers) 

 behind the wings, and the absence of caudal filaments distinguish Flies (Dip- 

 tera) from the winged males of Coccida? (Scale-insects). From all other insects 

 Diptera may be distinguished by the iaci that they possess only one pair of 

 wings.f Thus, besides ordinary flies, such as Blue-bottles and House-flies 

 «. Muscidce), the Order also includes Midges (Chirononnd cb), Gnats or Mosquitoes 

 (Culieidai), Daddy-long-legs (Tipulidai), Horse-flies (Tabanidai), etc. 



Blood-sucking Flies : Their Appearance, Life-history, and Habits- 

 With the exception of the Gnats or Mosquitoes (QuUcida), blood-sucking 

 species of Diptera occur, so far as at present known, only in the following 

 families:— Chironomidae, Blepharoceridse, Simulida), Psychodidge, Tabanidse 

 Leptidse, Muscidas, and Hippoboscidaa. The enormous majority of Blood-suck- 

 ing Diptera belong to the family Tabanidae (Horse-flies or Dun-flies, Clegs, 

 Serut-flies), in which the blood-sucking habit is universal (or practically so) in 

 the female sex ; in the other families enumerated, if we exclude the Simulidse 

 and Hippoboscidaa, the habit is exceptional, and the species concerned are 

 comparatively few. As a rule, the blood-sucking habit is confined to the 

 females, and it may be noted as a somewhat remarkable fact, that a large pro- 

 portion of the species have aquatic larvae. 



Chironomidae (Midges): — genus Ceratopogon and its allies. 

 The blood-sucking species at present known are confined to the subfamily 



* « A Monograph of the Culicidae or Mosqu toes " (3 Vols, ami 1 Vol. of plates; 1901- 

 19(M by F. V. Theobald, and" \ Monograph of the Tsetse-flies" (1903), by E. E. Austen, 

 have already been published by th Trustees of the British Museum. 



+ For pTesent purpo-es it is unnecessary to take into account certain aberrant wingless 

 forms which in the majority of cases do not suck blood. In some of these forms even the 



halteres are absent. 



