231 Indian Museum Notes, [Vol. IV* 



if aiming a blow at the fly. They also sometimes hide themselves in the grass, 

 and as the horse stoops to graze, they dart on the mouth or lips and are always 

 observed to poise themselves during a few seconds in the air, while the egg is 

 preparing on the point of the abdomen, 



Lije-history and habits. — Having discussed pretty fully the 

 habits of the common species, it will be unnecessary to go into 

 details that are similar in other species, but simply call attention to 

 distinguishing characters and such differences in habit as maybe of 

 economic importance. 



Professor A. E, Verrill (Report on External and Internal Para- 

 sites of Man and Domestic Animals, p. 29) gives the following con- 

 densed statement of its life-history and habits : — 



The Gastrophilus hcBmorrhoidalis or red-tailed bot-fly, is a small species 

 easily distinguished by the bright orange-red tip of the abdomen. The thorax 

 above is olive gray and hairy with a black band behind and suture. The base 

 of the abdomen is whitish and the middle blackish, in strange contrast with the 

 orange -red of the end. The larvse have the same habits and are found in the 

 same situations with those of the common bot-fly, which they much resemble, 

 except that they are whiter and smaller, their length not exceeding one-half or 

 five-eighths of an inch. They change to pupse within two days after leaving 

 the horse, and the pupse are deep red. They remain in the pupa state about 

 two months, and the flies appear from the last of June till the cool weather of 

 autumn. In depositing the eggs the female differs in habit from the common 

 bot-fly, for she selects the lips and nose of the horse as the most suitable place 

 for this purpose. The fggs are darker coloured (some authors say black) than 

 those of the common bot-fly, and contain a nearly developed embryo, bo that 

 thev very soon hatch, and the young larvse are transferred to the mouth by the 

 tongue, and thence get into the stomach. 



Remedies. — On account of the shorter time between deposition 

 of eggs and hatching of larvae, it is evident that the removal of eggs 

 as for that species would be less successful. For horses in use, imme- 

 diate attention when they give signs of the presence of the fly, the 

 capture of the insect and the removal of eggs already attached would 

 be but the natural method suggested by a knowledge of the insect. 

 For horses in pasture, if exhibiting signs of molestation by this insect, 

 the same attention would be advisable whenever the nature of the 

 case will permit. It would be worth while to try the application of 

 some oil or tar to the hairs of the lips as a prevention to the fasten- 

 ing of the eggs to them. 



3. Gastrophilus pecoruitiy Fabr. 



We are not aware that this species has been encountered in 

 the United States, and, if so, it is evidently rather rare. The follow- 



