204 OTHER INSECTS. 



M. OTHER INSECTS. 



We find in all orders of insects some species that occasion- 

 ally attack man and animals and that may injure either 

 by their bite or by their poison. None of them can, how- 

 ever, be called true parasites. 



Among the butterflies and moths we have a few whose 

 larvae cause great pain if they are handled with the bare 

 hands. This pain is caused by peculiarly-shaped, branched 

 spines, which contain poison, or by very fine hairs possess- 

 ing similar properties. 



Among the beetles we have such poisonous insects as the 

 blister-beetles or Spanish-flies; they are utilized as vesicants. 



Fig. 169.— Lci'mop/ilin/s fascia/ds. Melscli. Greatly enlarged. Original. 



hence can be useful in the hands of a physician. There is, how- 

 ever, one small beetle) Zfi'viop/dtfui^ yasc kit us, Melsch.), that 

 deserves more than a passing notice; it is illustrated in fig. 

 169. This small and flat insect, of a light-brown color, 

 highly polished surface, with a light space upon each wing- 

 cover, is very abundant near saw-mills, especially near those 

 in which hard wood is sawed. In running over the persons 

 engaged in mill work they become not simply annoying, but 

 as they bite often and without any provocation, they be- 

 come a great nuisance, and the writer has seen very bad 

 sores caused by them. They seem to prefer the neck of their 

 victims, and notwithstanding their small size, as indicated 

 by the line in the illustration, their bite is a painful one. 



