466 OTHER BLOOD-SUCKING FLIES 



a dependable clue to the early life of the insect. Adult flies are 

 usually not long lived, and often live only a few days, just long 

 enough to copulate and lay their eggs. Some species, however, 

 e.g., mosquitoes, may live for several months. 



The order Diptera, as already indicated, is 

 divided into two great suborders, the Orthor- 

 rhapha and the Cyclorrhapha. The first order 

 includes those species which have a well de- 

 veloped larva with a distinct head, and an ob- 

 tected type of pupa. The second includes the 

 flies which have headless maggot-like larvae and 

 a coarctate type of pupa. In nearly all of these 

 the antennae are of the type shown in Fig. 21 ID 

 and E. These suborders are further divided into 

 FIG 211 T es sec ^ ons or suborders and then into families, but 

 of antenna of Dip- for our purposes it is unnecessary to follow out 

 female" 1 ' ^biack^ this classification. It will suffice to take up, 

 fly: C, gadfly (tab- f amity by family, those forms which are impor- 

 tant as blood-sucking parasites of man. The 

 mosquitoes are of such very great importance 

 that they deserve separate consideration and have been discussed 

 in a chapter by themselves (Chap. XXV). 



Phlebotomus Flies 



General Description. Phlebotomus flies, otherwise known 

 as " sandflies " or " owl-midges," are minute mothlike midges 

 which are found in nearly all warm and tropical climates of the 

 world, with the exception of Australia and the East Indies. In 

 Australia (Queensland) they are represented by an allied fly 

 of the same family, Pericoma townsvillensis, which is said to be 

 a very severe biter, producing swellings which may last three 

 weeks. They belong to the family Psychodidae, which includes 

 a large number of species of flies found all over the world, nearly 

 all of which resemble tiny moths on account of their very hairy 

 bodies and mothlike pose. The latter characteristic, however, 

 is not shared by the genus Phlebotomus. The latter is the only 

 genus, except Pericoma, containing habitual blood-suckers with 

 a long proboscis; in all other members of the family the pro- 

 boscis is short and inconspicuous. 



