I 



THE GNAT. 347 



female Gnat. From the lower part of its head 

 projects a long slender proboscis, nearly half the 

 length of the body of the insect, and terminated 

 by a slightly-thickened portion. This_, however, only 

 serves as a sheath for the real weapons with which 

 the little bloodsucker makes its attacks upon our 

 persons, and these are of a sufficiently formidable 

 nature, consisting of six slender needle-like bristles, 

 finely barbed at the tips, which penetrate the skin 

 with the greatest ease. The sheath, however, is 

 not without its use in this operation, for its tip is 

 applied to the skin, so that as the fine lancets of 

 the interior pass into the tissues, they are guided 

 by this fixed point of support, which always retains 

 its position, the remainder of the sheath graduallj^ 

 becoming bent towards the breast, until, when the 

 whole of the lancets are pushed into the victim, 

 it is completely doubled up. It is supposed that 

 at the same time that the insect pierces the skin, 

 it injects into the wound a venomous fluid, which 

 is the cause of the subsequent irritation, and may 

 probably serve some useful purpose to the insect in 

 increasing the flow of blood. The female Gnat, which 

 is the bloodsucker, may be distinguished from the male 

 by the shortness of her palpi and the slight hairiness 

 of her antennae; the male has the palpi long and 

 beautifully plumose, as are also the antennae. The 

 males, thus beautifully adorned, appear to have no- 

 thing to do but to pass their short lives as merrily as 

 possible ; their food consists of the nectar of flowers, 

 and after imbibing as much as they require of this, 

 they pass the rest of their time in dancing, an occu- 

 pation in which vast clouds of them may often be 

 seen engaged in warm summer evenings. 



