368 LIFE STORIES OF AUSTRALIAN INSECTS. 



The large dragon fly or *' horse-stinger " is some- 

 times seen chasing bot and other flies, and this 

 harmless insect has been accused of attacking 

 horses. The mistake probably came about in 

 this way: The horses seem to dislike the very 

 lium of the bot fly, and dart away when they hear 

 it. Now, the bot flies are chased by dragon flies, 

 but, as the latter are so much larger, those near the 

 horses saw only the larger insect — saw also the 

 horse rearing or turning away, and imagined it 

 was the dragon fly which was attacking, instead 

 of which it was the hum of the bot fly which dis- 

 turbed the horse. 



Another species is Oestrus ovis. This fly deposits 

 maggots in the nostril of the sheep, and they make 

 their way up in the space behind the nose, and here 

 they feed till they mature, when they are expelled 

 by the sneezing of the animal. They pupate in the 

 earth. We have seen sheep bots taken from the 

 bram of a sheep wliich liad been killed by these bots 

 which had found their way from the nostril to the 

 brain of the sheep. 



ACALYPTRATE MUSOID^. 



This group includes a number of flies which are 

 closely allied to the calyptrate muscidae. The 

 acalyptrates differ in the venation of the wing. 

 Tlie cell marked ''a" is open. (See Plate 44, Fig. 

 5.) The squamae are either absent or rudimentary. 



JL: 



