8o 



OTHER DIPTERA 



Hawthorn 

 fly. 

 Oak fiy. 



sonal attention, and informed me of the scientific 

 name given above. 



Other dipterous flies, to which anglers have 

 ascribed popular names, may be mentioned 

 Black gnat, the black gnat, the hawthorn fly, and the 

 oak fly or down-looker. The black gnat, as its 

 name implies, is a small dark fly, differing in 

 no very marked respect from many others taken 

 by fish when smutting. Its scientific name is 

 Bibio johannis. 



Closely related to it, but much larger, is the 

 hawthorn fly (B. marci). The oak fly is usually 

 to be found on the trunks of trees, standing 

 head downwards the characteristic attitude 

 that gives it the second popular name. Its 

 scientific name is Leptis scolopacea. Why these 

 last two flies have been adopted by anglers as 

 " trout flies " has always been rather a puzzle 

 to me, as both kinds are far more plentiful on 

 land than on water ; but no doubt at times 

 they get blown on to the stream, and are wel- 

 comed by the trout as an inviting if unexpected 

 addition to the larder. 



The names are enrolled amongst the patterns 

 popular in the early days of fly nomenclature ; 

 and in Devonshire the hawthorn has a short 

 season of its own amongst fly-fishers, about the 

 time when the May blooms. 



