748 



HIPPARCHIA HIPPOCASTANE^ 



their particular favourite spots ; while, in large inter- 

 mediate tracts, there are few or none to be found. 

 They occasionally visit the shore, wading about in 

 the water, and in the mud, in search of food, which 

 they scoop up very dexterously with their delicately- 

 formed bills. On being 1 wounded while in the water, 

 they attempt to escape by diving, at which they are 

 by no means expert. In autumn, their flesh is ten- 

 der and well tasted. They seldom raise more than 

 one brood in the season, and depart for the south 

 early in September. As they are well known iu 

 Jamaica, it is probable some of them may winter in 

 that and other of the West-India islands." The 

 above is not only by far the best description of the 

 manners of this genus of birds, but there are few de- 

 scriptions of any living creature at all comparable 

 with it. 



HIPPARCHIA (Fabricius ; SATYRUS, Latreille). 

 A very exterpive genus of lepidopterbus insects, be- 

 longing to the section Diurna, or butterflies, and family 

 NymphalidcE, having the antennae gradually thickened 

 to the tip, the club being slender and bent ; the body 

 is slender ; the wings large ; the palpi are longer 

 than the head ; several of the basal nerves of the 

 wings are very much swollen at the base. The 

 caterpillars are either naked or downy, with a forked 

 tail ; the chrysalides have the head forked, and the 

 back tubercled. There are nearly a hundred Eu- 

 ropean species of this genus, of which nearly twenty 

 are inhabitants of this country, including the wood 

 argus ( (Egerid) ; the wall butterfly (Megcera) ; the 

 grayling (Megesra) ; the marbled butterfly (Galathca) ; 

 the gate keeper (Tit/ionus); meadow brown (Janira) ; 

 the ringlet (Hypcrantkus) ; and the small heath but- 

 terflies (Pamphilus) ; all of which are of common 

 occurrence and of the middle size. 



HIPPOBOSCID.& (Leach.) A family of dip- 

 terous insects, belonging to the section Pupipara (or 

 order Homaloptcra, Leach), containing the forest 

 flies, which exhibit such remarkable variations in 

 their typical structure, that they have been regarded 

 by some authors as forming a" distinct order. The 

 head is received into a cavity in front of the thorax ; 

 it is divided transversely into two parts, the an- 

 terior or smaller of which supports the mouth and 

 two small tubercles, almost imbedded at the lateral 

 angles, being rudimental antenna?. The mouth is 

 composed of two curved setae, inclosed in a tubular 

 canal, covered by two narrow elongated coriaceous 

 plates, regarded by Latreille as palpi. The ocelli are 

 wanting. The body is short, flat, and very coriaceous ; 

 the wings are either large or entirely wanting; the 

 nervures of the anterior margin are very strong, but 

 they are effaced behind. In the winged species a 

 pair of balancers are also present. The legs are very 

 strong, and terminated by robust curved claws, which 

 are toothed beneath. The abdomen is composed 

 of a continuous leathery-like membrane, capable 

 of very great distension, which peculiarity is owing 

 to the remarkable circumstance that the young 

 of these insects are singly nourished within the 

 body of the parent, where they not only acquire 

 their full size, but actually assume the pupa slate, 

 under which form, like very large eggs, thev are 

 deposited by the females. This egg-like cocoon is at 

 firt soft and white, nearly as large as the abdomen 

 ot the parent fly ; but by degrees it hardens, becomes 

 brown, of a rounded form, and often notched at one 

 end, which is covered by a shining kind of cap, which 



is detached on the insects assuming the perfect state. 

 This cocoon is, moreover, entirely destitute of annular 

 incisions, in which respect it differs from those of 

 other dipterous insects. It is composed of the uncast 

 skin of the larva, beneath which the insect becomes 

 a real inactive pupa, with the limbs of the perfect 

 insect laid along the breast as in other species which 

 undergo the strict coarctate species of transformation. 

 These curious particulars were first discovered by 

 Reaumur, and have been subsequently confirmed bv 

 M. Leon Dufour, and others ; the former author was, 

 indeed, so solicitous to observe the development of 

 the insect from these singular eggs, as he at first 

 supposed them, that he carried them in his pocket by 

 day and took them to bed with him by night, in order 

 that they might have the same warmth which they 

 enjoy in their proper habitats. His surprise may there- 

 fore be imagined, when, instead ofgrubs,as he expected, 

 perfect flies were produced. 



These insects are not less interesting in respect to 

 their habits : they live exclusively upon various quad- 

 rupeds and birds ; the horse is especially subject to 

 the attacks of one of these species, which has thence 

 been named H. cquina. This species is the type of 

 the genus Hippobosca, in which the eyes are large 

 and distinct, being placed at the sfcles of the head ; 

 the antennae are in the shape of tubercles with three 

 dorsal setae ; the wings are large. Mr. Curtis observes, 

 that " these flies move swiftly and, like a crab, sideways 

 or backwards ; they are very tenacious of life, and 

 live principally upon horses, attaching themselves to 

 the belly, between the hind thighs and under the tail, 

 where they are less protected by hair. It is remarked 

 by Latreille, that the ass fears them the most, and that 

 horses surfer very little from them, probably when 

 they have overcome the irritation which they must 

 at first occasion, they cannot cause much pain, other- 

 wise horses could not live in forests in the summer." 

 And Mr. Samoulle states, that " in the New Forest 

 of Hampshire, they abound in a most astonishing degree. 

 I have obtained from the flanks of one horse six 

 handfuls, which consisted of upwards of a hundred 

 specimens. Mr. Bentley informs me, from observa- 

 tions he made in the summer of 1818, while in Hamp- 

 shire, that the Htppoboscce are found in considerably 

 greater abundance on white and light coloured horses 

 than those of a black and dark colour ; and the ob- 

 servation was confirmed by the stable-keepers in the 

 vicinity of the Forest." 



The other genera are, Ornithomyia, Craterina, O.vy- 

 ptcrum, Hcemobora, Melophagus, Feronia, lApotepna, 

 and probably Braula ; of these, the three first are 

 British, and are found upon various birds, the Craterina 

 hirundinis depositing its egg-like cocoon in the nest 

 of the swallow, where it receives all the necessary 

 warmth, for which it repays the poor swallow by 

 sucking its blood. The wings in this genus are very 

 long and narrow. The genus Melophagus comprises 

 a single species, M, ovimis, which is destitute of wings, 

 and attacks the sheep. It is of a dark reddish colour, 

 with the abdomen whitish. It is commonly called 

 the sheep louse, and is so tenacious of life, that Ray 

 states that it will exist in a fleece twelve months 

 after it is shorn ; its excrements even giving a tinge to 

 the wool, which is very difficult to be discharged. 



HIPPOCASTANE^R. A natural order con- 

 taining only two genera, namely, JEsculus, the horse- 

 chestnut, and Pavia, the scarlet-flowering chestnut. 

 The different species of JE&culus and Pavia are 



