FOREST FLY 



139 



ornithology saw the Hoopoe. As this rare bird is stated to 

 have a fondness for this special kind of ant I conjectured 

 its presence was caused by the fuliginosa being present. 

 Their workings were wonderfully destructive in the felled 

 stump which they chose for headquarters. I certainly think 

 you need no advice from me on the head of dealing with 

 them, but it just occurred to me that, if they come in a 

 definite line still, and you could not run them up to their 

 starting point, it might answer to put a couple of half- 

 decayed stumps across their line of march. Might they not 

 adopt the suggested new settlement ? 



I am getting on with the Forest fly and lately I have been 

 studying the claws. I have only just discovered that along 



Much magnified. 



FIG. 22. FOOT OF FOREST FLY, H1PPOBOSCA EQUINA, SHOWING 

 DOUBLE CLAWS, CENTRAL PROCESS, AND LONG PRICKLY BRISTLE ; 

 ALSO PORTION OF SIDE OF CLAW OF HIPPOBOSCA MACULATA, SHOWING 

 PARALLEL GROOVES AND SAW-EDGE. 



the lower part of the large-curved claw is a saw-toothed 

 edge, and to this the slanting grooves which I had previously 

 noticed run down one furrow to each notch so as to give an 

 enormous power of holding and tearing. I think the thumb 

 claw is also to some degree furnished both with saw- and 

 file-like markings (fig. 22). 



P.S. I can only see the saw and file mark with a good 

 side light, when the claw is examined in natural state, not 

 in balsam. 



