86 Wild Life in Wales 



water a bright pink colour. On the slightest disturbance 

 each red thread is withdrawn into its case, all visible motion 

 instantly ceases, and all that is discernible at the bottom of 

 the pool is a mass of what looks at first sight as if it might 

 be petrified grass. Examine this, however, and it will be 

 found to consist of an infinite number of slender tubes, 

 clustered together, some of them nearly an inch in length, 

 but of varying dimensions, each constructed of particles of 

 peat or other matter, firmly glued together by a sticky 

 secretion exuded by the salivary glands of the tenant, and 

 each forming the temporary home of a blood-worm. These 

 are the larvae l of some of the true Midges, relatives of the 

 dancing " Harlequin Flies " we noticed flying under the 

 lee of the trees, and of which a very large number of 

 different species are recognised as natives of Britain. Larvae 

 of other members of the same family may be seen in 

 abundance in any rain-water barrel that has stood in the 

 open for a short time, in the shape of the familiar " screws " 

 that, in diverse form and size, are continually wriggling 

 through the water. Some of these have large and con- 

 spicuous "antennae," often whitish in colour, others are 

 provided with a breathing process somewhat resembling the 

 external gills seen in the tadpole stages of newts. Others 

 again spend most of their larval existence in little dwellings 

 glued to the sides or bottom of the barrel, very similar to 

 the cases we have just been examining. Many of these in- 

 sects, though differing so much in appearance as larvae, very 

 closely resemble one another in their adult or winged state. 

 They then, also, are so much like gnats, or mosquitoes, that 

 the groups are by most people not distinguished from one 

 another, all small flies being classed together as " midges." 

 It may therefore be of interest to point out, in passing, two 

 simple means by which true Midges may be recognised 

 from Gnats or Mosquitoes. In the latter the vein, or rib, 

 that forms the front margin of the wing is continued round 

 the tip and down the hind margin also, while in a midge it 

 ceases near the tip. A mosquito, also, when at rest, stands 



1 A few weeks later the perfect insects were noticed emerging from some 

 of these tubes, slim, long-legged creatures, much resembling gnats. 



