VAKIOUS PAETS OF NATUEE 341 



WASPS. 



Wasps abound in woody wild districts far from neighbourhoods ; 

 they feed on flowers, and catch flies and caterpillars to carry to 

 their young. Wasps make their nests with the raspings of sound 

 timber ; hornets, with what they gnaw from decayed : these par- 

 ticles of wood are kneaded up with a mixture of saliva from their 

 bodies, and moulded into combs. 



When there is no fruit in the gardens, wasps eat flies, and suck 

 the honey from flowers, from ivy blossoms, and umbellated plants : 

 they carry off" also flesh from butchers' shambles. 



CESTRUS CURVICAUDA.1 



This insect lays its nits or eggs on horses' legs, flanks, &c. each 

 on a single hair. The maggots when hatched do not enter the 

 horses' skins, but fall to the ground. It seems to abound most in 

 moist, moorish places, though sometimes seen in the uplands. 



NOSE FLY.2 



About the beginning of July, a species of fly (mused) obtains, 

 which proves very tormenting to horses, trying still to enter their 

 nostrils and ears, and actually laying their eggs in the latter of 

 those organs, or perhaps in both. When these abound, horses in 

 woodland districts become very impatient at their work, con- 

 tinually tossing their heads, and rubbing their noses on each other, 

 regardless of the driver, so that accidents often ensue. In the 

 heat of the day, men are often obliged to desist from ploughing. 

 Saddle-horses are also very troublesome at such seasons. Country 

 people call this insect the nose fly. 



ICHNEUMON FLY. 



I saw lately a small ichneumon fly attack a spider much larger 

 than itself on a grass walk. When the spider made any resistance, 



' [The Gastrophilus equi of modern authors. The maggots do not, when hatched, 

 fall to the ground, but enter the stomach of the horse, where they bury themselves 

 in the mucous lining.] 



* \Gastrofhilus nasalis, L.] 



