]^0. 1. ] Miscellaneous Notes. 37 



was also found owing" to the stinging" properties of the bristles with which 

 the caterpillars were armed. It is not thought likely that these cater- 

 pillars will occasion any very serious injury. The moths emerged on 

 26th January, and were forwarded to Colonel Swinhoe, who has deter- 

 mined them as belonging to a new species of Miresa, which he is describ- 

 ing under the name of Miresa cotesi. 



From Handerzaij situated at an elevation of about 4;000 feet in Balu- 

 chistan, Mr. Cleyliorn sends an Qllstrid Fly 



Horse (Estrid in Baluchistan. • i ,i • r. ,• 1,1 1 o ^ •, • 



With the mtormation that he has tound ifc in 

 November laying its eggs at the ends of the hair on horses' legs and 

 other parts of the body that can be reached by the horse's mouth. Whilst 

 laying its eggs the insect does not disturb the horse, but immediately 

 afterwards irritation sets in, possibly from the itching caused by the 

 frequent settling of the fly, and the horse bites the place where the 

 eggs are laid, so that some of the eggs find their way into the animal's 

 mouth, and thence into its stomach where they develop. Careful 

 grooming and the application of a nose-bag to prevent the horse 

 from biting off the eggs have been found to be the most practicable 

 means of protecting the animal from the pest. The specimen was sub- 

 mitted for identification to Mons. J, M. F. Bigot, who reports that 

 it is a variety of the well-known European form [Gastropliilus equi), 

 which has been described under the name of (Estrus bengaletisis (Maeq., 

 Dipt. Esot.). The life history of this insect is no doubt the same as that 

 of the true Gastrophilus eqjii, which, according to Williston, lays four 

 or five hundred eggs, generally on the inner side of the horse's knees, the 

 horse showing great annoyance and often becoming unmanageable, 

 though the insect can cause but little irritation in the process of laying its 

 eggs. The eggs hatch a few days after they are laid, and the larvse get 

 taken in the horse's mouth when it is biting the irritated spots. They 

 are then swallowed with the food, and, upon entering the stomach, attach 

 themselves to the inner membrane by means of the booklets that encircle 

 the mouth. Here they remain for nine or ten months feeding on the 

 suppurative matter produced by the irritation they set up within the 

 stomach, and when full-fed they loosen their hold and are carried through 

 the intestinal canal and ejected with the excrement. They then burrow 

 into the ground and transform into pupae, from which the images emerge 

 in thirty or forty days. When only a few grubs are present in a horse's 

 stomach they are said to cause but little injury to the animal, but when 

 they exist in large numbers they may produce sufficient inflammation or 

 loss of blood, in some cases even to cause death. 



