^^'^^G INSECTA. 



it being only tlic females wliieh Ijite.] The alulets generally cover the haltcres ; the ahilomen is de- 

 pressed and triangular ; the tarsi have three piilvilli. 



These insects appear towards the end of spring, and are very common in woods and pastures, flying 

 with a buzzing noise. They even attack man, to suck liis blood ; and cattle in some parts are some- 

 times nearly covered with blood from the continued attacks of these insects. That of which Jiruce 

 has spoken in bis Travels, under the name of Tsaltsalyia, and of which even the lion is afraid, ii prob- 

 ably a species of this genus. 



Pantjonia, hatr {Tam/ijlossa, 'M(^\'i.),]\;i'i t!ie prolioscis nmrli lone;er tlian the bead, slendpr, scaly, 2;iMierally 

 pointed at tip, and with very short pRipi : the last joint of the antenna: is (Uvided into eii^^ht riiiL^s. The species 

 are only found in hot chmates, and subsist on the honey of flowi-rs. 



The rest have the proboscis shorter, or scarcely longer than the head ; Tnembranons ; terminated hy two lartre 

 iips, arul witli the palpi at least equal to lialf the len^^th of the prolioscis ; the last joint of the anlenn.x' is divided 

 into five or four rinQ;s. 



Tabanus proper, has the antennse scarcely lon,2;er than the head ; the last joint is rather crescent-shaped, and 

 divided into five rin^s, the first largest, witli a tooth above. T. hoviuus, De Gear, the Lar^e Gad-fly, the larva of 

 which lives in the g^ronnd : it is long and cyhndric, narrowed towards tlie head, which is armeit with two hooks ; 

 the pupa is naked, nearly cyhndric, with two tubercles in front ; the segments of the abdomen ciWated ; and six 

 points at its posterior extreniity. 



Tabanus maroccnnifg, Fabr., according; to Desfontainos, attacks camels, which are sometimes co\pred ^\ith tliem. 



The otiiers have the antenna' evidently loiiii^er than the head, and terminated by a juint of an eloui^'ate-cotjic form, 

 or nearly cylindric ; and g:enerally only with four annuli. The ocehi are wanting;; in many. 



aSHvIus, Mei^., has thi-ee ocelH, and the first joint of the antennas is lon;2;er than the fohowim^, and cylindric. 



Chrysops, possesses three ocelli, but the two basal joints of the antenna; are nearly of equal length. C. circudenSf 

 Fabr., a common species, which greatly torments horses. 



Iljsmatopota, Meig-., wants oceUi, and the basal joint of the antennae is thick, and nearly oval in the males. 



He.ratoma, Meig. (Heptcrfoma, previously), has the antennae larger than the preceding, and cyhndric, with the last 

 joint very long; ocelli wanting. 



THE FOURTH FAMILY OF THE DIFTERA,— 



The Notaoantha, — 

 Has, like the last, the third and last joint of the antenna; transversely annulated, or composed of five 

 distinct joints (Chiromijza) ; tlie sucker is formed of only four pieces ; the proboscis, of which the stem 

 is very short, is nearly withdrawn into the oral cavity : the membranous consistence of this organ, and 

 its retiexcd lips ; its clubbed pal^ii, also retlcxed ; the arrangement of the wings, which are mostly crossed 

 over each other ; tlie oval or orbicular form of the abdomen ; and the scutelium often armed with 

 points, distinguish the Notacantha from the Tabanides. But few of their larvte have been observed; 

 those hitherto observed, and which have been described by Swammerdam, Reaumur, and Rosel, are 

 aquatic (see below), and approach those of the Athericera by their soft head of a variable form, [?] and 

 by their habit of changing to pupae ])eneath their own skins ; but they preserve their former size and 

 form, which is not the case with the Athericera. The larva; of other Notacantha {Xi//uplia^y.-s), live in 

 the rotten and moist parts of trees. 



We divide the Notacantha into three principal sections, [Mt/dasii, Decatomn, and SI ra.tiomydes']. 



The first, Mydasii, have no teeth or spines on the scutelium ; the body is nldong, with the al)domen 

 long, triangular, and conical; the \Aings are extended; the antcnua\ wiiich constitute the chief 

 character, are com[)(jbed eitlier of five distinct joints, two of whicli form in snme a clul), and in others 

 the extremity of a cylindrical stem ; or of three joints, the last of wliich is largest, nearly c\Iindrica!, 

 gradually pointed, and divitlcd into three annuli; so that these organs are ahviy:? divided into five. 

 If we excei)t Mi/das, in which we have the rudiments of a style, neither the latter uor t)ie seta exists 

 in any of these Notacantha: ; probably the two terminal joints represent them. 



Some have the antenniB much longer than the head, 5-jointed, terminated in an elongate mass formed of the 

 last two joints, with a very short terminal seta ; the hind thighs are strong, and tootlied or spiny beneath. The 

 tarsi have only two pulvilli. The posterior cells are closed before reaching the apex of the wing. These Diptera 

 compose the genus 



MVDAS,— 



Which indivisible intti two subgenera. 



C'cphalucera, Latr., has the proboscis long, and advanced. 



Mydas proper, has it short, and terminated by two large nps. 



Others have the aiitenn;e scarcely longer than the liead, and cylindric ; tlie tarsi have throe puUilli, and the 

 posterior cells extend to the himl margins of Ibe wn [-[^ . 



