DIPTERA OF MINNESOTA. 



77 



has even been said of them that some can fly faster than an express 

 train at full speed. 



Figi G4. Tabanus lineola. Fab., "Green Head", Lugger. 



Both males and females are found on flowers, the males confining 

 themselves to a diet of nectar, and never biting, the females only re- 

 sorting to the sweets offered by flowers when blood cannot be ob- 

 tained. They not only infest quadrupeds, but many of them do not 

 scruple to attack man, as many of us know to our cost. Warm 

 weather and bright sunshine appear to be the conditions most conducive 

 to their activity, and they are, as a rule, more numerous in the vicinity 

 of low and marshy places, prairie country for instance, because the 

 adults appear to be especially fond of water, and their brownish or 



Fig. 65. Mouth parts of Tabanus, greatly en- 

 larged. Lugger. 



Fig. 66. Larva of T. 

 atratits. After Riley. 



black eggs are deposited either on stems or leaves, in the case of 

 those whose larval life is passed on land ; or upon reeds in the water 



