92 



EFFECT OF THE BITE OF A MIDGE ON A HUMAN BEING. 



It is well known that the genus Ceratopoofon, of the dipterous 

 family Chironomida>, or what are termed bitino- Hies, of which the 

 most conspicuous form is the so-called punky of the north woods of 

 Maine, sometimes called by the Indians ''No-see-'em/' It is some- 

 what seldom, however, that the species caug-ht in the act of biting can 

 be determined specitically. Mr. F. W. Thurow, Harvester, Tex., 

 sends specimens of CendojXHjon stdlifer Coq., with report that it is 

 very conmion in that vicinity (Waller County), and that a great many,, 

 people have felt its bite. It is sometimes calh^d sand gnat or sand A}', 

 but all agree that it is vei\v tormenting, and that it is worse near 

 creeks that are choked with logs than elsewhere. When our corre- 

 spondent tirst went to live in Texas he would pull otf his shoes at 

 night and sit down to read. After a while his feet and hands were 

 burning as if he had l)een wading in nettles. For a long time he was 

 of the opinion that the trouble was nettle rash, on account of the 

 minute size of these little midges, which is well expressed by the 

 Indian name "No-see-'em." The bite of the Hies appear to be more 

 intense about the wrists and ani:les. 



THE QUAIL AS A DESTROYER OF CUTWORMS. 



November l-i, 1902, Mr. W. F. Wever, Conunerce, Tex., wrote in 

 regard to the effectiveness of the (juail in restraining the nudtiplica- 

 tion of insects, more particularly cutworms: 



My grandfather had a low piece of bottom land that cutworms were always very 

 bad in; and upon one occasion I shot a quail in the edge of this piece of land. 

 When the negro woman went to dress the bird, its crop was so full that she cut it 

 open, and found 17 cutworms in it. That stopped the killing of quail, so far u:' my 

 grandfather's place was concerned. I am satisfied that your Department could do 

 some splendid missionary Avork along this line. 



We frequently receive similar connnunications testifying to the 

 value of the quail as an insect destroj^er, more particularly as a check 

 on the increase of the Colorado potato lieetle (see Insect Life, Vol. IV, 

 p. 278, and Vol. V, p. 143). Within a radius of only a few miles of 

 the Capitol, quails are quite common during the summer months, and 

 come very close to cottages along the Potomac River front, and ma}^ 

 be seen crossing roads ahead of carriage^; almost as freely as barnyard 

 fowls; and it seems too bad that a bird which has a tendenc}'^ to fre- 

 quent the vicinit}^ of farmhouses and fields of grain and other crops 

 where it would aid in the control of insect pests should l)e destroyed 

 by alleged sportsmen as soon as the open season l)egins. 



