398 



fore been recorded upon Pear. It has occasionally been fonnd npon Orange, bnt It 

 has been, up to the present time, only a temjiorary visitor upon cultivated plants. 

 Its native wild food seems to be the Gall-berry (Ilex glabra). Your best remedy 

 will be to spray with a dilute kerosene-soap emulsion, made according to the for- 

 mula given upon page 3, circular No. 1, of this Division at the time when the ^oung 

 lice are hatching. If the Gall-berry occurs in any abundance near your orchard 

 you are also advised to exterminate it if ])os8ible, as it is doubtless responsible for 

 the occurrence of the insects upon your pear trees. — [June 2, 1892.] 



The Horn Fly in the South. 



Inclosed you will find flies which from habit and appearance are considered by 

 this Department to be the Horn Fly. Before treating the matter in the publication 

 of the department we desire the opinion of the entomologist. The flies annoy cat- 

 tle very much, aud made their appearance in southern Georgia last season and again 

 this season. — [R. T. Nesbit, Commissioner of Agriculture, Department of Agricul- 

 ture, Georgia, May 25, 1892. 



Reply. — * * * You are correct in determining the species to be the Horn Fly 

 (Hamiatobia serrata). The spread of the species during the past two or three years has 

 been remarkable, and it now occurs from New Jersey to Florida and west to Louisi- 

 ana.— [May 28, 1892.] 



The Horn Fly in Florida. 



The Horn Fly (Ha^matobia serrata), arrived here some time last year, as Dr. Neal 

 says it Avas not here in 1890. It was quite annoying last fall. From the present 

 outlook it will probably be severe on cattle this year. The first sjiecimens were 

 taken during the first week of April. It is known by some as the "dog fly." — [P. 

 H. Rolfs, Florida, April 22, 1892. 



A ne'w Ovirl Parasite. 



I inclose herewith two flies. I took them from the body of a large Horned Owl, 

 killed on Caranchua Bay, Jackson County, Tex. 



These specimens could not fly and seemed to be laden with eggs fastened to the 

 hairs on their bodies ; they clung tenaciously to the feathers. Would you kindly 

 tell me the name of this fly? I never saw one like it before. — [J. D. Mitchell, Vic- 

 toria County, Tex., April 17, 1892. 



Reply. — The insect which you send is one of the curious degraded parasitic flies 

 of th e family Hippoboscidae, to which the so-called Sheep Tick belongs. It belongs 

 to the genus Olfersia and, as far as can be determined by comparison with tlie 

 National Museum collection, it is a new species. — [April 26, 1892.] 



Notes on Spiders. 



* * * A number of years ago, as I was dressing in the morning, I felt a very 

 sharp pain on the outside of my leg a little way below the hip joint. I thought 

 there was a hornet in my clothes and began to look for it on the double cjuick, but 

 to my surprise I found a dark-brown spider, sucli as are common around houses at 

 that time of the year. I am not versed m entomology, so I can not giv'e its name. 

 It was of the kind that weave funnel-shaped webs to catch flies. The pain was very 

 severe for a few minutes. The flesh over a space about the size of a dime turned very 

 white and raised up like a little flat lump, and was quite hard. Several little inden- 

 tations, as if made by pressing the surface with some sharp-pointed thing, as a pin, 

 were seen. The indentations were so marked I could not fail to notice them. Attef 

 an hour or so the pain largely subsided, and by next day the mark was mostly gone. 

 My verdict is that some spiders inflict severe pain by their bite. 



We have a large black spider here that burrows in the ground, making a burrow 



