MAY. 139 



where they may be seen rising in swarms, their long legs 

 serving as stilts ; the females deposit their eggs in the earth 

 at a short depth below the surface. The larvae are fleshy 

 grubs, which attack the roots of grass and other plants, 

 doing much injury to the crops ; there are nearly fifty 

 British species, which are well known under the name of 

 Crane-flies, Harry Long-legs, etc. 



DlPTERA. HlPPOBOSCnWE. 



HIPPOBOSCA. 



Generic Distinctions. Antenna inserted near the mouth ; head 

 small, round, and attached to the thorax by a neck ; thorax large ; 

 wings large and horizontal ; body soft ; feet short. 



HIPPOBOSCA EQUINA. Forest or Horse-Fly. This insect 

 has the head yellow and flattened ; the body, which is broad 

 and short, yellowish, with brown spots ; the wings white, 

 transparent, much longer than the body, and rounded at the 

 extremity ; the body slightly hairy. This is a very trouble- 

 some species, living principally on horses, and abounding in 

 the New Forest, Hampshire. It is a singular circumstance 

 that the female Fly nourishes her young within her body, 



