Mr. W. S. MacLeay on the (Eslrus of Mr. li. Clark. 23 



flies composed of Tabani, " Conopses,'" Asili, and Culices, which have 

 all spotted wings, and of which the three first have lately taken to the 

 filthy habit of " sweat sucking." Our worthy " Naturalist," however, is 

 still in doubt whether Culices suck.* 



Second Discovery. — A new tribe of animals called " Conopses" 

 which, having so classical a name, were no doubt also knovm to the 

 ancients, and I hope when Mr. Clark describes them in the next volume 

 of the Linnean Transactions, he will also identify them. So far as I am 

 concerned, I assure him there will be no disagreeable discussion on the 

 subject, although some ignorant innovators are very likely to change the 

 name as being too near to KwrwirtQ. 



Third Discovery. — " CEstri are like ichneumon flies, which deposit 

 " their eggs on the sides of caterpillars of Lepidoptera, and then hatch- 

 *' ing, perforate their skins and live on the parenchyma." Now, I 

 do say, that of all this gentleman's "curious discoveries," this is the 

 most curious, that ichneumon flies, in order to perforate caterpillars, 

 walk out of the eggs which they themselves have laid. 



Fourth Discovery. — The testimonies of the ancients with respect 

 to GEstrus militate against each other, according to Mr. Clark. I only 

 trust that, when the members of that Linnean Council which so acutely 

 distinguished the merits of Mr. Clark's paper, are re-elected, they will 

 allow him to shew how. 



Fifth Discovery. — The greater part of Mr. Clark's paper is taken 

 up vdth shewing that the presence of an (Estrus bovis has a greater 

 influence on an Ox than that of a Tabanus.f I am not aware of any 



* What in the name of heaven has put " Conopses," Asili, and Culices, into 

 this learned Theban's head? The ancients knew but too well the Culices to 

 take them for Q^stri. The Asili are insectivorous insects, and the Conopes, 

 which I suppose he means, are, in their larva state, parasitical upon Humble Bees, 

 and, in their perfect state, perfectly harmless. The Conops calcitrans o{ Linnseus, 

 is, indeed, an insect that sucks blood, (not sweat, as I know by sad experience 

 both here and in Europe,) but this species was some fifty years ago separated 

 from the genus by Geoffroy and Degeer under the name of Stomoxys. 



t I have already said that the ancients as well as the moderns, such for 

 instance as the author quoted by Archdeacon Nares, may all have confounded 

 the Brize with the (Estrus when flying. The fact is, we inherit this confusion 



