28 BULLETIN 329, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Georgewitch x describes a trypanosome, Crithidia simuliae, which 

 he found in the stomachs of adult females taken biting cattle, etc. 

 The locality in which the animals were attacked was a district in 

 Servia, and the species S. reptans (=/S. columbaschense) . He did 

 not, however, find any similar organism in the blood of the animals 

 attacked 



Riley 2 states that Lugger observed them being attacked by Asi- 

 lidse and Odonata. 



Wise (1911) 3 reports that in British Guiana the adult females of 

 Simulium are attacked by a voracious enemy in the nature of a black 

 and white wasp (probably Monedula signata), which follows the 

 aboriginal Indian to obtain the "Pium" (Simulium). This wasp 

 reduces the " Pium " to unconsciousness, deposits eggs, and leaves the 

 body to be fed upon by the resulting larvae. 



SIMULIUM AS A POSSIBLE CARRIER OF DISEASE. 



In 1874 J. P. Megnin 4 strongly advanced a theory that two species 

 of Simulium in the Department of the Rhone, France, are the trans- 

 mitting agents of virulent charbon. He also mentions Stomoxys 

 and Haematobia in this connection, but places most emphasis on 

 Simulium, whose habits more closely conform to the outbreaks and 

 distribution of the disease in that locality. He also states that, 

 in his opinion, M. Tisserant, sent by the French Government to 

 investigate the subject, proved that Simulium was the cause or 

 the transmitting agent of the disease. In a later paper he reaffirms 

 his statements and mentions that he has found a "Psoriasis 

 guttata " prevalent in the ears of horses, and believes it is due 

 to the bites of Simulium. The writer has found a similar condition 

 to be very common in the ears of horses, undoubtedly due to the bites 

 of Simulium, in Illinois, South Carolina, and the vicinity of Wash- 

 ington, D. C. As this condition may be of a purely secondary nature, 

 and as apparently no experimental or careful analytical work has 

 been done on the subject, all statements regarding the transmission 

 of a disease of cattle by Simulium must be regarded as purely theo- 

 retical. 



According to Riley and other authors, S. pecuarum Riley and S. 

 meridionale Riley were supposed to carry cholera among chickens 

 and hogs, but nothing definite was ascertained on this point. 



1 Georgewitch, Jivoin. Sur un Trypanosomide nouveau, Crithidia simuliae, n. sp. d'une 

 Simulie (Simulium columtacensis) de la Serbie septentrionale. In Compt. Rend. Soc. 

 Biol., t. 67, no. 31, p. 480-482, 1 fig., Nov. 12, 1909. 



2 Op. cit., p. 510. 



3 See Bibliography, p. 35. 



4 Du role des mouches dans la propagation du charbon et autres affections virulentes. 

 In Jour. Med. Veter. Mil., t. 12, no. 8, p. 461-475, Paris, Jan., 1875. 



