ORDER XII. DIPTERA.—THE MIDGES. 339 
They enter our chambers at night, and their loud humming forewarns us 
of the bloody attack about to be made. Our only refuge is behind a bul- 
wark of gauze, or, in other words, mosquito-nets. In our newly-settled 
territories, where they most abound, the inhabitants are in the habit of driv- 
ing them out with smoke. The Laplanders secure themselves from their sting 
by greasing the exposed parts of their body. Yet, vexatious as they are, 
we recognize their right to existence, and to those enjoyments which the 
Universal Father has provided for them. \ 
Tiruta. — The Tipulraie have the antenne longer than the head, with 
from twelve to sixteen joints. The wings (although some species are ap- 
terous) are horizontal or roof-like, with but few nerves, and the feet are 
long and slender. They resemble the gnats, but their trunk is extremely 
short, terminating in two large lips; and the sucker is composed of two 
fibres only. The species are very numerous. 
T. Culiciformis. —The Straw-colored Midge. These insects are of so- 
cial habit, and sometimes their immense multitudes fill the air like small 
clouds. They frequent streams, the borders of forests, and marshes. Their 
movements are rapid, and they seem to be constantly on the wing, rising 
and falling always in the same vertical line. 
A small black species of midges, frequenting damp places, is as trouble- 
some as the mosquito. In new and partially-settled countries, at some sea- 
sons, as in the spring and early summer, they are intolerable. Their bite 
is worse than the sting of the mosquito’s lancet. They appear to be the 
most active and bite the most fiercely in the evening twilight. 
T’. Oleracea. — Father Longlegs. The extraordinary proportions of this 
insect, which is common in fields and pastures, arrest the attention of all, 
and children probably gave it its popular name. Father Longlegs has a 
considerable power of flight, but does not go far at a time, generally skim- 
ming along near the earth, or the top of the grass. Its hind legs are three 
times the length of the body, and serve as stilts, to enable it to pass over 
hich blades of grass. 
The second family of Diptera—the Tunystoma (Wide or Long Mouth) 
—comprises the seven following genera: Astlus, Empis, Cyrtus, Bom- 
bylius, Anthrax, Leptis, and Dolichopus. 
AsiLus. — The insects composing this genus have the proboscis directed 
forward in front. They live by rapine and murder. The loud, buzzing 
noise they make in flying is the death-knell of innumerable flies, bumble 
bees, and beetles, which, with great adroitness, they catch and suck. Their 
larve live in the earth, and are there transformed into pup. 
Emrts. — This group resembles the foregoing, but the proboscis is either 
perpendicular or directed backwards. The head is rounded, nearly globular, 
