Chap. III.] 



MOSQUITOES. 



155 



of these ill-used creatures is a tiny, tail-less scorpion 

 (chelifer), and another is the pretty little silvery creature 

 (lepisma), called by Europeans the " fish insect." ^ 



The latter, wliich is a famihar genus, comprises several 

 species, of which only two have as yet been described ^ ; 

 one, of large size, is most graceful in its movements, and 

 singularly beautiful in appearance, o"\ving to the white- 

 ness of the pearly scales from which its name is derived. 

 These, contrasted with the dark hue of the other parts, 

 and its tri-partite tail, attract the eye as the insect darts 

 rapidly along. Like the chehfer, it shuns the hght, hiding 

 in chinks till sunset, but is actively engaged throughout 

 the night feasting on the acari and soft-bodied insects 

 which assail books and papers. 



The close proximity of the lake to Colombo is produc- 

 tive of other inconveniences ; the nightly serenade of 

 frogs (some of which are of gigantic dimensions), the 

 tormenting profusion of mosquitoes, and the incredible 

 swarms of more ignoble flies, cause a nuisance sometimes 

 intolerable. So multitudinous are these insects at certain 

 seasons, that in some of the mansions on Slave Island and 

 its vicinity, the flies invade the apartments in such num- 

 bers as hterally to extinguisli the hghts. On the occasion 

 of dinner parties in these situations it is the custom to 

 hght fires on the lawn to draw away the flies from the 



^ Of the first of these, three species 

 have been noticed in Ceylon, all with 

 the common char.icteristics of Ijeing 

 nocturnal, very active, veiy minute, 

 of a pale chesnut colom*, and each 

 armed with a crab-like claw. They 

 are 



Chelifer Lihrortim, Temp. 

 „ OhloH(/ns, Temp. 

 „ AcaroUles, Hermann. 



Dr. Templeton appears to have 

 been puzzled to account for the ap- 

 pearance of the latter species in Cey- 

 lon so far from its native country, 

 but it has most certainlj' been intro- 

 duced from Europe, in Dutch or Por- 

 tuguese books. 



2 Lepisma nivco-fusciata, Temple- 



ton, and L. niger, Temp. It was 

 called " Lepisma" by Fabricius, from 

 its fish-like scales. It has six legs, 

 filiform anteimoe, and tlic abdomen 

 terminated by three elongated sette, 

 two of wliich are placed nearly at 

 right angles to the central one. 

 LiNXiEUS states that the European 

 species, with which book collectors 

 are familiar, was first brought in 

 sugar ships from America. Hence, 

 possibly, these are more common in 

 seaport towns in the South of En- 

 gland and elsewhere, and it is almost 

 certain that, like the chelifer, one of 

 the species foimd on book-shelves in 

 Ceylon has been brought thither from 

 Europe. 



