REPORT OF THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 497 



The great danger of an attack by these insects lies in the unexpect- 

 edness of their appearance. As already mentioned there may he no 

 indication of their presence in any neighborhood and the roads are 

 free of them. But with the change of the prevailing wind they may 

 appear, and when one is passing certain localities, such as low, wet, 

 and sha(ly ground, or dense thickets of underbrush, they will start 

 forth like a cloud, and cover the animals at once. _ Open fields may 

 be entirely free from gnats, but if animals pass certain places in them 

 out dart the tormentors, and the animals attacked can only save them- 

 selves by running to high places exposed to the full rays of the sun. 

 The gnats, following the animals for some distance, leave as suddenly 

 as they apj^eared, and hide themselves again in the thickets. In the 

 cities they appear suddenly with certain winds, chiefly with those 

 blowing from the south, southeast, and west, and usually disappear 

 again with winds blowing from the opposite direction. 



ANIMALS INJURED. 



Domestic animals are attacked in the following order, varying some- 

 what in different localities, viz, mules, horses, cattle, sheep, setting 

 turkeys and hens, hogs, dogs, and cats. The death-rate of mules is 

 highest, both because they seem to be more susceptible to the bite, 

 and because they are almost exclusively used in the Southern States 

 for farm work. Horses also suffer greatly. Cattle, when weakened 

 by winter exposure and by scarcity of food, succumb easily to the 

 continued attacks of their winged foes. Hogs show at first the effects 

 of the bite but very little; yet large numbers die soon after the attack, 

 while others die about six weeks after the disappearance of the Buf- 

 falo Gnats; they usually perish from large ulcerating sores, which 

 cause blood-poisoning. Many persons claim that the so-called char- 

 bon is produced by the bites of these gnats, a statement which is, of 

 course, not borne out bj^ facts. Sheep, although well protected by 

 their wool, suffer greatly by bites upon the unprotected portions of 

 their skins, and injure themselves still more by crowding too close to 

 fires, which are built to produce protecting smoke. Many sheep crowd 

 so close to the fire as to be burned to death. Setting turkeys and 

 hens are frequently forced by the gnats to leave their nests. Young 

 fowls are killed outright. The gnats, in attacking fowls of all kinds, 

 force their way under the wings of their victims, where they cannot 

 be dislodged. Dogs and cats are also greatly tormented, and will not 

 remain outdoors during a Buffalo Gnat invasion if they can help it. 

 Deer, forgetful of any other threatening danger, are tormented to 

 such a degree as to lose all fear, and approach the smoldering fires; 

 in their a.gony they sometimes allow people to rub the gnats from 

 their bodies, and will, in their frantic endeavors for relief, even lie 

 down in the glowing embers or hot ashes. 



EFFECT OF THE BITES. 



Animals bitten by many Buffalo Gnats show all the symptoms of 

 colic, and many people believe that these bites bring on that disease. 

 Mules esj)ecially are thus affected, yet large numbers of post mortem 

 examinations made by Dr. Warren King, of Vicksburg, and others, 

 failed to show any relationship between this disease and the bites, nor 

 were any facts obtained which would justify the correctness of such 

 a popular conclusion. Dr. King opines that the effects of these bites 

 32 AG— '86 



