102 THE EEPOET OF THE Xo. 36 



MORmNG SESSION 



Friday, ISTovember 5th. 



The President : The meeting is now called to order and I intend to postpone 

 the first item on the programme, that is, " Election of officers, etc.,'^ and instead to 

 ask Mr. Morris to read his paper on '' Fresh Woods and Pastures New."* 



Mr. Morris's paper was read. 



Dr. Hewitt: I am sure I am voicing the sentiments of the whole meetiJl^g 

 when I say how pleased we are that Mr. Morris was able to come to this meeting 

 and deliver one of his charming papers. It occurred to me, as Mr. Morris was 

 reading his paper, what a pity that he could not be given charge of an expedition 

 such as Bates had in South America, what charming accounts of those entomo- 

 logical journeys we should have when Mr. Morris returned. This paper is now 

 open for discussion, if any of the members care to ask Mr. Morris any questions 

 regarding his captures. 



I hope, Mr. Morris, that you will take this silence as indicating that your paper 

 was so fully detailed by you that no one wishes to discuss it. We will now pass 

 on to the next paper, by Professor Loehhead, on " Some Notes on Nose and Other 

 Bot Flies." 



SOME NOTES EEGAEDTNG NOSE AND OTHEE BOT FLIES. 



Prof, W. Lochhead, Macdonald College, Que. 



1. Nose Flies. 



In connection with the "Farmer's Friends and Foes" department in the 

 Family Herald and Weehly Star several interesting letters were received by me 

 from the West regarding Nose Flies. I consider the information obtained' of 

 sufficient importance to bring before this meeting, for it became evident Avhen I 

 looked up the literature available that entomologists as a rule have much to learn 

 regarding this group of flies. 



The correspondence referred to began innocently enough through a question 

 asked by a Saskatchewan subscriber ; " Does the Nose fly that torments horses in 

 summer time sting or bite the horse, or what makes them so afraid of the flies ?'^ 

 I replied as follows: — 



Nose flies are a species of horse bot flies and have a peculiar habit of laying their 

 eggs round the lips of horses, and the nostrils. For this reason they have been termed 

 " Nose Flies." We all know that horses have an instinctive dread of this fly, and seem 

 to recognize its presence. While these flies may appear to sting, they cannot do so, 

 for they have no sting. Their mouth parts are aborted. However, this fear of the 

 bot fly has been Ibred into the bone of thousands of generations of horses, who have- 

 suffered the effects of the bots in the stomach. There may be something in the fact 

 that the bot fly resembles a wasp or a small bee and that the horse cannot very well 

 distinguish between these insects which sting and the bot fly which does not sting. Per- 

 sonally, I am of the opinion that horses know instinctively that this insect is harmful 

 to them. There are many things that we cannot explain, and this instinctive dread 

 of nose hot flies is one of them. 



*This paper will appear in the Canadian Entomologist, Vol. XLVIII, No. 5, May,. 

 1916. 



