STONEFLIES, ALDER, SMUTS, ETC. 295 



tentans, which occurs at times in great quantities on 

 many of our lakes and reservoirs, may perhaps be of 

 interest to the angler. Wheli a really good hatch is 

 in progress this fly is taken greedily by the trout, and 

 there ensues a quite phenomenal rise of fish. The 

 actual specimens I am describing were collected at 

 Blagdon Reservoir, but very closely allied species 

 have also been seen and captured on Lake Killarney, 

 Lough Arrow, Loch Leven, and many other still 

 waters." 



" Chironomus tentans is one of the many harmless 

 midges which are so often confused with gnats or 

 other blood-suckers. It is, however, quite innocent 

 of spears and lancets or any weapons of offence. In 

 the male the colour of the body is a rich deep green- 

 olive, the legs being of a bright green-olive hue. 

 The body is about j^^ths of an inch long, and each wing 

 ^-inch, but these measurements vary slightly accord- 

 ing to the individual fly selected. The female insect 

 has a body of a much darker colour, deep shagreen 

 verging on brown, and about -^^-inch in length, each 

 wing being about y^^-inch. The sex is easily dis- 

 tinguished, as the male, in addition to a pair of 

 claspers at the extremity of the abdomen, is furnished 

 with large and feathery antennae, which form a very 

 striking characteristic of the male members of this 

 family. The female is somewhat larger and clumsier 

 in build, has no claspers, and no specially distinctive 

 antennse." Plate XXXVII shows the appearance of 

 the insects. 



