166 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XVLU. 



females usually remain at a lower level. In attacking horses and cattle they 

 show a great fondness for the inside of the ears ; but they also devote them- 

 selves to any part of the body where the skin is thin and not well protected 

 by hair: in the case of human beings, they frequently attack the corners of the 

 eyes. In Uganda, according to Dr. Christy* a species of Simulium occurs in 

 a " belt " about 12 or 15 miles in length, by 3 or 4 miles in width, on the right 

 bank of the Nile. " In this area the flies swarm at certain seasons in millions," 

 and become such a pest that the natives are forced to leave their plantations. 

 "The bite of this small fly," adds Dr. Christy, " is a very severe one, and 

 causes a wheal which itches intolerably, and is marked by a large drop of blood." 

 shodidse, genus Phlebotomus (in the Sudan and Ceylon called Sand-flies), 

 In this family the blood-sucking habit is altogether exceptional, being con- 

 fined to the genus Phlebotomusj of which only three or four species, which 

 occur in Southern Europe, the Mediterranean Sub-Region, the Anglo- 

 Egyptian Sudan, and Ceylon, are at present known. It is probable that the 

 females alone suck blood. 



Appearance. — Small yellowish-brown flies from 1^ to 2 mm. in length, with 



the body and wings densely 

 clothed with long hair. An- 

 tennas, palpi, and legs long ; 

 proboscis straight, projecting 

 vertically beneath the head. 

 Abdomen of the female ro- 

 seate when full of blood. Care 

 must be taken not to confuse 

 with Phlebotomus the harm- 

 less species belonging to other 

 genera of Psychodidas, all of 

 which are small, densely hairy, 

 moth like flies, but with the 



proboscis scarcely, if at all, 

 Fig. 3.— Phlebotomus up. V Kassala Sudan. 



(X 12.) visible. 



Life-history — Almost unknown. The preliminary stages, however, are passed 

 in water or in liquid filth, as in cesspools. 



Habits of the perfect insects. — According to Rondani, in Northern Italy, 

 Phlebotomus papatasii is found on the higher slopes of the hills as well as in the 

 marshy plains. As evening approaches, the males very often, the females more 

 rarely, are found on windows. Phlebotomus minutus appears to be more con- 

 fined to the low ground near streams, and to enter houses less frequently. 

 Writing of Phlebotomus papatasii as met with in Sevastopol, Mr. Robert Erskine, 



* Lnc. cit., p. 40. 



f Since this was written the Rev. A. E. Eaton lias stated that in England he has 

 observed blood in the abdomen of Syrorax silacta, Hal., and has made a similar ooservation 

 in Algeria in the case of an unaescribed species of the same genns. Of course the blood 

 may not have been human. 



