44 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCTETY OF ONTARIO. 



places such as the Mosquito Coast, Mosquito Bay and Mosquito Town. In ancient his- 

 tory we read of armies ou the march being arrested on the way and made to beat a hasty 

 retreat from the attack of these tiny warriors, which is quite believeabie ; for if we take 

 into consideration the scant and loose covering which they probably wore, which gave the 

 wearers so much more space to defend, they were not in a condition to pursue human foes 

 when every man of them was engaged in a double-handed conflict with such pertinacious 

 insect enemies. 



There is a prevalent opinion in Europe that mosquitoes are an exclusively American 

 production, and in England especially it is the general belief. We often see it in print and 

 hear it confidently asserted that there are no mosquitoes in Eagland. The usual expres- 

 sion is " We have gnats but no mosquitoes," whilst the fact is, the English Gnat and 

 the American Mosquito cannot be separated generically and probably not even specifi- 

 cally. The two names being but local synonyms for the same insect. But even scientific 

 authorities have assisted in perpetuating the misunderstanding. Newman in his " Familiar 

 introduction to the history of insects," has a paragraph headed " Mosquitoes or Simulites," 

 in which he refers to a wood cut of a Siraulia, which strongly resembles that terrible pest 

 to the early settlers of the country, the " Black Fly," Siinulium molestum, whilst he gives 

 Gnat as the common name for the genus Culex. 



The settlers of this country adopted the common name Mosquito for Culex pipiens, 

 and used the name Gnat to designate an insect that was more felt than seen. So micros- 

 copic was it", that the excessive irritation produced by its attack on exposed parts was 

 ofttn the first intimation of its presence ; yet so abundant were they at times, that small 

 clouds of them were distinctly visible from their density. They were active only in the 

 evening, or in densely shaded woods. This pest seems to have entirely disappeared with 

 the clearing up of the country. 



Many people call all mosquito-like insects by that name, or, if in Europe, they would 

 call them gnats, and include under these names, the families Tip'dvlae and 

 Ephemeridae, which are quite innocent of all biting propensity. So that when these 

 names are used and alarming reports circulated as to their abundance, it is impossible to 

 be quite sure what insect may be meant. It is recorded that in 1736, gnats were so 

 numerous in England, that vast columns of them rose in the air from the spire of Salis- 

 bury Caihederal, like smoke, which made the people think it was on fire. Mention is 

 made of a column, pyramidal in form, over a tree, 50 or 60 feet in height (1) — whilst, at a 

 moie recent date, another column is mentioned as being seen in a garden 3 feet in 

 diameter and 20 feet high. We may justly conclude that these columns were not com- 

 posed of Culex piqnens. And when we are informed that " every part of these columns 

 was in the liveliest motion," we may at once infer that they were composed of some 

 of the B phemeridae, which Wordsworth alludes to, as 



"The gfilded summer flies, 



That mix and weave their sports together in the solar beam." 



And when we are told that " their bite was so envenomed that it was attended with 

 violent and alarming inflammation," we may safely say, that these bites did not belong 

 to those columns, but to the genus culex, whose habits are quite diiferent. Who ever 

 saw Culex jiipiens in a playful mood 1 She is ever intensely absorbed in business, even 

 her song seems to indicate that her thoughts are bent in that direction ; at least it turns 

 ours very quickly to her business methods. 



Whilst on the subject of these dancing columns, I will give an illustration of their 

 remarkable powers of sustained flight, which came under my own observation. I was 

 returning from an excursion by rail, on a fine summer evening, and to have an opportun- 

 ity of enjoying it to the utmost, I took my seat on an open car which had been fitted up to 

 provide extra accommodation. The car in front of me was high roofed, and over a rear 

 corner of it had gathered one of these clusters, high and dense, which was vigorously besport- 

 ing itself in the rays of the setting sun. I thought to myself " when we go, you will get 

 left, ' but I was mistaken. When the train started it went with it, and the cluster 

 maintained its position with as much apparent ease as when the car was at rest. Did 



