INSECTA 273 



which a bot was taken from a woman's jaw. Not improbably 

 the well-known Indian disease, termed peenash, or worm in the 

 nose, is due to the presence of CEstridean larvae. Cases by 

 Rustomjee and Lahory are quoted below. Possibly Stockett's is 

 another of the same order. The case by Kilgour (Bibliog. No. 

 34) may be another. I may add that Moquin-Tandon gives an 

 instance of the discharge of seventy-two bots, resembling those 

 of the sheep, from a woman's nose ( ( Journ. de Vandermonde ') . 

 The rat-tail maggots or larvse of Helophilus are parasitic. Two 

 or three instances have been recorded from the horse. I possess 

 one from the human intestine. Kirby also quotes an instance 

 in which Heloph. pendulus was obtained from the stomach of 

 a woman (' Philos. Mag./ vol. ix, p. 366). 



A vast number of non-parasitic insects are injurious to man 

 and beast. Inasmuch as they subsist at the expense of their 

 victims and also adhere to his person during their attacks for a 

 shorter or longer time, they, like the leeches, may be spoken of 

 as free parasites. The leg-sticker (Stomoxys calcitrans) pene- 

 trates through thick stockings, causing blood to flow freely. 

 The clegg of the West Highlands (H&matopota pliivialis) also 

 violently attacks man and beast, especially horses. The mosquito 

 (Gulex anxifer), the gnats (0. pipiens, 0. annulatus, and C. 

 pulicarifi), and the midge (Chironomus plumosus) need only be 

 mentioned. The creeping gnat (Simulium reptans) is also very 

 annoying in Sweden. The role of the mosquito, as itself con- 

 stituting a parasite-bearer, will be again referred to in the 

 closing pages of this work (Book II, Section V). The bites of 

 the tsetse (Glossina morsitans) , though so destructive to the 

 horse, ox, sheep, and dog, are not dangerous to man himself. 

 According to Sir S. Baker, the seroot-fly, or zirnb of Bruce, 

 which is a species of Pangonia, is excessively annoying to 

 travellers in Abyssinia. Amongst the hemipterous insects the 

 common bug (Acanthia lectularia) is sufficiently blood-thirsty ; 

 but there is a far more sanguinary species of this kind in 

 South America. This is the pampas benchucha (Conorhinus 

 nigrovarius). Our distinguished countryman, Darwin, in his 

 ' Voyage,' speaking of these wingless insects, says : " Before 

 sucking they are quite thin, but afterwards become round 

 and bloated with blood. In less than ten minutes the insect 

 is changed from being as flat as a wafer to a globular form." 

 This insect somewhat resembles our water-scorpion (Nepa 

 cinerea), a non-parasitic species whose bite causes severe pain, 



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