APHANIPTERA. 03 1 



Its presence, during the time of pestilence, is regarded as a good 

 omen, it being supposed to devour the malaria. 



BOT-FLIES. 



4. OestridcB, (Lat. oestrus, a gad-bee,) The flies of this 

 family, the larvae of which are known by the name of bots, 

 infest different quadrupeds, and a species fouud in Peru, as- 

 sails man himself. The horse licks them off his coat ; they 

 are then hatched by the warmth and moisture of the mouth, and 

 conveyed to the stomach ; sometimes they are laid in the skin of 

 the ox, Antelope, etc., and on the head of sheep. They are 

 called gastric, cutaneous, and cervical, according to the place in 

 which they breed. From the Oestrus bovis, (Lat. of an ox,) oxen 

 run to the water for protection. The Oestrus tarandi deposits its 

 eggs under the skin of the Rein Deer. The presence of these 

 insects occasions much annoyance and terror to these and other 

 animals, upon whom the larvae are deposited. 



GAD-FLIES. 



5. Tabanida, (Lat. tabanus, an ox-fly, or gad-fly.) This family 

 includes the largests insects of the order, having prominent eyes, 

 and a mouth which, in the female, has six, and the male, four 

 piercers. Many of the perfect insects are greedy of flesh and 

 insects, and some are so even in the larva state. They often 

 become a great pest to cattle. In Africa, it is said, even the 

 lion is afraid of them. The males of these insects draw their 

 nourishment from flowers ; the females alone are blood-suckers. 



ELEVENTH ORDER. APHANIPTERA. (Gr. ayavrig, aphanes, not 

 manifest; rtTsgbv, pteron, wing.) 



This order includes the tribe of Fleas, Pulicida, (Lat. pulex, 

 a flea,) having no proper wings, but simply two scales on each 

 side. All of them are very minute in size, and similar in their 

 habits. In their perfect state, they are parasitic. The larvae of 

 Fleas, (Pulex irritans, (Lat. provoking,) issue from the egg in 

 the form of very small worms, that attain their full size in about 

 twelve days, and feed upon animal matter. In the silken cocoon 

 which they weave for themselves, they pass in quiet the pupa 

 state. The CHIGOE, JIGGER, &c., P. penetrans, (Lat. piercing,) 

 is numerous in the West Indies and South America. It often 

 buries itself deeply in the skin, both of men and animals, depos- 

 iting an immense number of eggs, which, when hatched, are 

 extremely irritating, and sometimes produce ulcers and death. 



