INSECTS AFFECTING MAN AND ANIMALS 201 



to every boy who has been swimming. Not only are the 

 attacks of these flies annoying to animals, but it is quite 

 probable that such diseases as anthrax may be carried by 

 blood-sucking flies from infected to healthy animals. 



The larvae are long, pointed maggots, most of them living 

 in water or in swampy places or along the edges of streams 





FIG. 143. The black gadfly (Tabanus atratus). (After Garman.) 



a, Male, 6, larva both twice natural size. 



or ponds, and are carnivorous. In some parts of the coun- 

 try where there are large swamp areas, as along the Gulf 

 Coast, in Louisiana and Texas, these flies appear in such 

 numbers as to make it impossible to keep cattle at certain 

 seasons. 



Nets or light covers and ear-nets will be appreciated by 



