296 



THE STUDY OF INSECTS 



The antenna? are long and slender, and 

 hairs (Fig. 507). 



are clothed with whorls of 



The moth-like flies are often very minute 

 and rarely exceed I of an inch in length. Most 

 of the species, so far as is known, feed on nectar 

 or other fluid matter other than blood; but the 

 species of the genus Phlcbotomus are blood-suckers, 

 feeding upon the blood of various reptiles, 

 amphibians and mammals, including man; and 

 it has been found that some exotic species trans- 

 mit certain diseases of man, as the European 

 pappatici fever, or three day fever, and the Peru- 

 vian verruga. One or two species of the genus, 



Phlebotomus, have been found in the United States. 



The larvae of members of this family are found in various situations; 



in decaying vegetable matter, in sewage, in cow dung, in exuding sap on 



tree-trunks, and in streams. 



Fig. 507. — Antenna? of Psy- 

 choda. m, antenna of male and the 

 second segment of the same more 

 enlarged; /, antenna of female and 

 the tip enlarged. 



Family Chironomid^e 

 The Midges 



The members of this family are more or less mosquito-like in form, 

 but are usually more delicate than mosquitoes. The 

 abdomen is usually long and slender; the wings nar- 

 row; the legs long and delicate; and the antennae, 

 especially in the males, strongly plumose (Fig. 508). 

 In fact many of these insects are commonly mistaken 

 for mosquitoes; but only a few of them can bite, the 

 greater number being harmless. 



The midges are most easily distinguished from 

 mosquitoes by the structure of the wings (Fig. 509). 

 These are furnished with fewer and usually less dis- 

 tinct veins; and the veins, although sometimes hairy, are not fringed 

 with scale-like hairs. 



Fig. 508. — Antennas of 

 Chironomus. f, female; m, 

 male. 



/?, /?, + 3 



Ra, + i 



-JM 



Fig. 509. — Wing of Chironomus. 



The name midge has been used in an indefinite way, some writers 

 applying it to any minute fly. It is much better, however, to restrict it 

 to members of this family except where it has become firmly established 

 as a part of a specific name. 



Midges often appear in large swarms, dancing in the air, especially 

 towards the close of day. Professor Williston states that, over meadows 



