264 ANGUS MACDONALD. — NOTES ON BLOOD-SUCKING FLIES, 



Culex {Micraedes) conservator, D. & K., has been found with Coreihrelh appendi- 

 cnlata, Grab., in tree-holes and in wild pines, and from a wayside pool a Cuhx 

 {Micraedes) allied to elevator, D. & K., was bred. 



Ochlerotatus niger, Giles, is the swamp niosc[uito of Cirenada. In Inackish water 

 in the lagoons at Morne Kon^'e the lan-ae may be seen in great masses, chiefly in 

 the summer rainy season; and at the »ame time the mosquitos swarm around these 

 swamps, keeping under the shade of mangrove and manchioneal in the bright day- 

 light, spreading abroad an hour or more before sunset and biting also at night. They 

 would appear to fly for miles and are generally taken for Stegomyia- by the partially 

 initiated who are troubled by them in town several miles from these swamps. 



Deinoceriles cancer, Theo., breeds in bi-ackish water in the crab-holes around the 

 lagoons and, as stated above, it has also been found in wayside ditches ; but these 

 were probably connected with surrounding crab-holes. On rare occasions the lar\''ae 

 of Ochlerotatas niger are also found in the crab-holes nearest the lagoon. 



The most disturbing insect in the Island is a Ceratopogon, the " sandfly " of 

 Grenada. It is practically ubiquitous, being probably more frequent in spring and 

 autumn, and is peculiarly partial in swarming. Whereas in some places a few may 

 be seen, morning and evening, sometimes throughout the day, and inside the mosquito 

 net when one wakes ; at other places, on the contrary, the insect appears in swarms, 

 the morning hour at the breakfast table being the time for doing most business. Each 

 person at table will have a cloudy follo^^ing, and in the country the frequent deshabille 

 of the early cup of coffee results, if no precautions are taken, in a liberal distribution 

 of spottiness over all exposed pai'ts. The bite resembles that of the flea, a central 

 dark spot with a pink areola (in Jamaica the areola around the puncture of the 

 common Ceratopogon was often a beautiful purple), and on the ankles of one not over 

 sensitive they may be confluent over a wide area. 



There is no morbid condition attributed to these creatures, and it is well if none 

 arises, for where they swarm their control would appear to be difficult, especially as 

 the sixteen- mesh netting does not keep them out. 



They are said to be more common in the neighbourhood of old masonry and ruined 

 buildings, but I find that the more frequent constant factor is moisture — proximity 

 to cacao festooned with parasitic growth and for the most parti of the year dripping 

 wet. Streams also have been in the near neighbourhood of the residences where I 

 have observed the greatest swarming. They are present, however, in dry situations. 



Of blood-sucking flies that attack domestic animals, Stomoxys is about as common 

 as in England, while Tabanidae are not common. I have captured a few of the 

 latter (not identified) and always in remote parts where one would think an equine 

 was rarely to be found. I hail the same experience in Jamaica, where, though no 

 doubt Tabanidae are general,! found them chiefly in remote parts, e.g., on the top 

 of St. Catherine's Peak, at some 5,000 feet elevation, where horse flesh and humanity 

 ascended but at infrequent times. 



