Liberia ^ 



oxidation of a substance formed under the influence of the 

 nervous system." In Diaphanes the light is greenish. There 

 are many elaterid (" Click ") beetles in Liberia, but apparently 

 none of this family are luminous there as in South America. 

 The buprestid beetles furnish many beautiful forms of metallic 

 emerald-green or copper- red. 



Amongst Flies and Dipterous insects, the first thing 

 noticeable is a negative characteristic : gnats — otherwise known 

 as mosquitoes — are singularly scarce. There is an exaggeration 

 in the statements of those who have visited Liberia, and have 

 reported that there were " no mosquitoes " in the country. 

 That cannot be said truthfully. Not only are they present 

 here and there, but the dreaded malaria-spreading Anopheles is 

 found in Liberia, as elsewhere on the West Coast. Still, it is 

 a pleasant thing to record that these teasing gnats are more 

 remarkable for their absence than their presence in this country. 

 Nevertheless, travellers should be most careful to use mosquito 

 curtains at all times and seasons. Apart from their being a 

 protection against cockroaches and other noisome insects, they 

 may serve to keep out the one Anopheles that has wandered 

 into the apartment. Also, in many Liberian houses, though no 

 mosquitoes will be visible to the eye, or will rise more than 

 three feet from the ground to attack the visitor, a few of 

 these insects may collect under sofas and tables and find their 

 way to the exposed ankles of the European ; so that any one 

 valuing his health in Liberia will use ankle boots rather than 

 shoes. 



At certain times of the year sandflies or midges ^ are 

 cruelly abundant. These creatures are nothing but a minute 



* Probably of the genus Ccraiopogo/i ; but there are possibly sandflies or 

 buffalo gnats (a larger, stouter, blacker insect with short legs) of the widespread 

 genus Simuiiiim in the Liberian forest. 



852 



