4ri6 OTHKH RLOOD-SrCKIXr, FLIES 



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

 usually not long lived, and ottcn live onl}- 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 sul)orders, the Orthor- 

 rha])lia and the Cyclorrhapha. The first order 

 includes those species which have a well de- 

 veloped larva with a distinct head, and an ob- 

 teeted type of pupa. The second includes the 

 flics which have headless maggot-like larva^ and 

 a coarctate tj'pe of pupa. In ncaily all of these 

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

 and E. These suborders are further divided into 

 „ o,, -r sections or suborders and then into families, but 



Fig. 211. Types ' 



of antenna; of Dip- for our pui'poscs it is Unnecessary to follow out 

 tera; ^. "'osquito, ^j^jg classification. It will suffice to take up, 



female; B, black- *^ ' 



fly: C, gadfly (tai)- family bv family, those forms which arc impor- 

 ^J^^i^y-^-tsetneny; tant as ' blood-.sucking parasites of man. The 



E, stable-fly. " ' 



mosquitoes arc; 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 ilies, otherwise known 

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

 which are found in nearly all warm and tropical climates of tlu^ 

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

 Australia (Queensland) they are represented by an allied lly 

 of the same family, Pericoma townsvillensis, which is said to !>(> 

 a very severe biter, producing swellings which may last three 

 weeks. They belong to the family P.sychodida\ which includes 

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

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

 bodies and mothlikc i)ose. The latter characteristic, however, 

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

 genus, except Pericoma, containing habitual blood-suckers with 

 a long proboscis; in ;ill otlici' incnibci-s of the family the pi'o- 

 boscis is short and inconspicucnis. 



