55 



NOTES ON THE BLOOD-SUCKING DIPTERA MET WITH IN 

 EASTERN AND SOUTH-EASTERN ABYSSINIA.* 



By E. E. DRAKE-BEOCKMAN, M.E.C.S., L.E.C.P. 



The highlands of Ahyssmia are remarkably free from blood- sucking flies, if 

 the CuLiciD^, Stomoxys, and Hippoboscid^ are excepted. 



Leaving the rail-head at Dirre Daua, and travelling along the Assobat 

 Road to Addis Abeba, only one species of Muscid^ was met with, namely, 

 Stomoxys calcitrans. These troublesome Diptera are very common in the 

 Ha wash Valley and around Mount Fantali, where they attack camels, horses,, 

 mules, cattle and human beings with equal vigour. They invariably attack 

 the ankles of human beings ; I have never known them to attack the 

 hands or face. Here I obtained two specimens of a new species of Tahanus 

 alUed to T. tceniola ; two others of this same species were also caught at 

 Laga Hardin, within a few hours^ march. In the Ha wash Valley I also 

 caught a solitary specimen of Pangonia ruppellii, and near Mount Fantali I 

 found Lyperosia mhmta very common. In this region the baggage animals 

 were greatly troubled by Hippohosca maculata. Of the mosquitoes, there was^ 

 one species of Stegomyia which has not yet been determined, Pyretopliorus 

 costaUsj and Grabliamia durhanensis, both the latter from the base of Mount 

 Fantali. 



After leaving the valley of the Hawash, we travelled south over the great 

 Arussi Plateau, and here Stomoxys calcitrans alone was found until the caravan 

 descended into the valley of the River Wabi, one of the affluents of the Webi 

 Shebeleh. The descent from Seru Abbas to the undulating valley known as 

 Gamoji, through which flows the River Wabi, is about 3700 feet, and it was 

 in this narrow^ belt of country between Seru Abbas and Mount Abunawas 

 that a swarm of dipterous insects was encountered. 



Here were represented one species of Tabanid^, namely, Corizoneura 

 cUsfincta, one of Stomoxys, namely, the ubiquitous S. calcitrans, sind two species^ 

 of Idcematojjota, H. mactans and IT. pnlchrithorax. Corizoneura distincta was 

 very common indeed, and a curious fact about this species was that, on leaving 

 Seru Abbas (8350 feet), it was not met with until 6000 feet was reached ; 

 after that it was to be seen in hundreds all over Gamoji, and even up the 

 slopes of Mount Abul Kassim to its very summit, 9000 feet high — Mount 

 Abul Kassim standing in the middle of Gamoji. Owing to their presence in 

 such troublesome numbers, this country is practically devoid of native villages 

 at this time of the year. The bush seemed alive with them, but although 

 they came hovering around human beings, I did not hear of anyone being 

 bitten by them, while, on the other hand, the unfortunate camels, ponies, 



* Received from the Colonial Office for publication. — Ed. 

 BULL. ENT. KES. VOL. I. PAPvT I. APRIL 1 9 10. G 



