175 



" It would be as well not to take too much notice of my statement that 

 Hippobosca maculata ' sometimes bites men.' The natives are not 

 agreed ; some flatly deny that it ever bites men, others say it does 

 sometimes. But it will be best not to believe until some European 

 says that he has seen it biting man." 



Two females of this species taken by Captain 



Life-history ^. O'Kinealy at Gambaga (vide supra) gave birth 



of Hippobosca to larvae about an hour after being captured. As 



maculata. described by Captain O'Kinealy in a letter written 



the same day : " Within a short time of being 

 deposited the larvae were of a pale yellowish colour, with a black 

 cap at one end and two minute dots or holes at the other ; in the 

 course of four or five hours, however, they turned black all over " 

 (i.e., changed into pupae). The pupae thus obtained were forwarded 

 to the Museum by Captain O'Kinealy with the flies, and the following 

 notes are the result of an examination of the larger of the two 

 specimens. 



The puparium or pupa-case of Hippobosca maculata is a dull 

 black capsule, roughly rounded-ovate in shape when viewed from 

 the dorsal surface, and convex above, with the posterior extremity 

 truncate and the anterior pole flattened and depressed ; the ventral 

 side is also somewhat flattened. The entire surface is finely 

 punctate, though the punctures are much coarser than in the case 

 of the puparium of H. camelina, Leach, which is very much larger. 

 The puparium examined is 4.4 mm. in length, by 3.8 mm. in breadth 

 at the widest part, and 2 mm. in breadth at the posterior extremity. 

 Rather less than 1 mm. in front of the posterior extremity the pupa- 

 case is encircled by a shallow groove, marking off a terminal area 

 (corresponding to the " black cap " of the larva), which, by means 

 of a A -shaped groove of little depth is indistinctly divided into 

 three sections. At the apex of the median triangular section can 

 be seen the vestiges of the posterior stigmata of the larva ; the 

 three sections, with the exception of a narrow vertical stripe in the 

 centre of the triangular one, are covered with low tubercles. On 

 the ventral side in the median line, immediately in front of the 

 groove marking off the terminal area, is a small pore representing 



