162 MEDICAL ENTOMOLOGY 



Kuala Lumpur, Federated Malay States. In this case the flies were 

 invariably attached to the ventral surface of the abdomen, and always 

 contained blood. It is doubtful whether the presence of blood in the 

 Ceratopogon is more than accidental; probably its true food is the body 

 fluid of the mosquito, as in the case with other predaceous flies 

 KAsilidae). The connection between these species of Ceratopogon 

 and mosquito-borne diseases, such as malaria, is a very remote one. 



GENUS CULICOIDES, LATRIELLE 



Minute midges usually measuring 1 mm., in length, sometimes 1.5 

 mm., nearly always of a dark brown or black colour, sometimes brownish 

 yellow rarely whitish. The antennae. consist .of fourteen segments, the 

 first eight or ten being globular or ovoid in shape, the remainder usually 

 elongated, especially in the male. The wings are hairy, either over 

 the whole surface, or only in parts ; the third long vein is either united 

 to the first by a transverse vein, or entirely blended with it ; the fourth 

 vein is either forked near the base, or towards the middle of the wing. 

 The wings are often marked with dark spots and light clear circles in 

 transverse rows of three, four, or more. The femora are not spined ; 

 the hind metatarsi are longer than the succeeding joints; the claws are 

 simple and of equal length, and in some species have spines at their 

 bases. The empodium is rudimentary, and is never more than half as 

 long as the claws. When at rest these midges are very like those of 

 the genus Ceratopogon. 



About eighty species of this genus are recorded from various parts 

 of the world. They have much the same habits and general appear- 

 ance as Ceratopogon. The females bite man as well as animals, and 

 both sexes are attracted to a light. One species C. kiefferi, Patton, 

 which is common in Madras in the cold months, feeds only in the 

 early morning, and is somewhat erratic in its habits ; it occurs in 

 large numbers on cattle on one day, and is practically absent the 

 next. Sometimes many will be found on one calf, while others in the 

 same herd are free from them. The males are often seen in large num- 

 bers on window panes, where they may be mistaken for ' eye flies ' 

 (Siphonella) . 



Culicoides kiefferi, Patton. Female (Plate XXXI, fig 1). Head, palpi 

 and antennae light brown. Thorax light brown with a median dark 

 band extending from the anterior end to about the centre, where it 

 divides into two short branches. Abdomen light brown with faint 



