BLOOD-SUCKING FLIES OTHER THAN 
MOSQUITOES. 
By Harotp W. B. Moore. 
Just at present when mosquitoes are being held up before the public as re- 
sponsible for many of the most serious physical disorders of man, it seems very 
opportune to remind people that the Culicide or mosquitoes, though the best 
known, are not the only flies which suck blood, the habit being found, too, 
in certain flies of other families. 
The family of the Chironomid@ or midges, for example, furnishes us with the 
blood-suckers locally known as “ sand-flies,”’ which derive their popular name, 
I presume, from the fact that they are abundant only where there is plenty of 
sand, such as along the foreshore and on the sandy regions of the interior. 
In some other parts of the world similar flies are known as “ punkies ” or “ no- 
see-um,” the last name being singularly descriptive, the insects being indeed 
so tiny as to be very often rather felt than seen. 
In spite of their blood-sucking proclivities sand-flies, when closely examined, 
as by a strong hand lens or a microscope, are seen to be very beautiful creatures, 
their wings being delicately mottled with grey and their antenne prettily 
feathered. They belong to the genus Ceratopogon, and are among the smallest, 
if they be not actually the smallest, blood-sucking flies, being but about a twen- 
tieth to a sixteenth of an inch in size. Though they be the liliputians of the blood- 
suckers their pricking is exceptionally v rulent, due, probably, to a highly 
irritating salivary secretion. When a mosquito pierces our skin with her pro- 
bogeis, the pang of the pricking ceases soon after the insertion of the proboscis, 
but with a sand-fly the case is different. Not only can we discriminate pretty 
readily between the painful sensation occasioned by the piercing of each of the 
two kinds of fly, but during the whole time the sandfly is drawing our blood we 
feel the pang of the operation, which is followed by a severely ‘unpleasant 
itching. 
Sand-flies are most annoying along the bushy parts of the seashore at dusk 
and at dawn, particularly if the weather be calm. During the sunny hours of the 
day we may frequently traverse the bush without being molested by a single one, 
even when they are in season. They are evidently in deep hiding, for they are 
scarcely to be found even when searched for. About an hour before sunset we 
begin to experience their characteristic smarting pricks, while by dusk they are 
_ upon us in such crowds that we bid the courida a hasty adieu. They cannot be 
driven off like mosquitoes, and being so microscopic readily find their way down 
our backs and up our sleeves. Their attacks often result in great ugly bumps 
onhandsand face. Little chidren scratch the intolerably itching bumps, which 
then frequently develop sores that heal with some difficulty. At times, 
however, sand-flies will swarm out during the day, but this happens only during 
a calm following cloudiness or a shower. 
