SIMULID^. BLACK FLIES. 



Adirondack black-fly : turkey gnat : bufifalo gnat. Sometimes fatal. 

 Abound in low, damp lands, brush and woods. Prevention, etc. as for 

 mosquito. 



The simulium is shorter than the mosquito, with a thick 

 broad abdomen, a short thick thorax, antennae with ii segments, 

 and proboscis with two perforating stylets, the wings are wide and 

 short and the legs thick and stout. Among the most trouble- 

 some American species are the Adirondack black fly {S. Moles- 

 turn), the turkey gnat (5. Meridionale) and the buffalo gnat 

 (5". Pecuarum). The first is the worst pest of the visitor in the 

 North Woods, the second pesters the turkey until it leaves its 

 eggs, and all bite and suck the blood of their victims, often caus- 

 ing death even in the larger mammals. In Lapland they drive 

 the reindeer from the lower rich pastures to the mountain glaciers 

 for protection, in Hungary, Servia, Moravia and Austria they 

 cause heavy losses of horses, cattle, sheep and swine, and even in 

 some damp regions of England they prove most injurious. They 

 abound on low, damp lands, among brush and woods and are to 

 be met by the same measures as the mosquito. Solutions of 

 quassia, tobacco, or walnut leaves, and liniments of oil of tar are 

 often employed. 



ASILID^. ROBBER FLIES: TABANIDiB, HORSE OR 



OX FLIES. 



Hornet asilus : Tabanidse : their pertinaceous and injurious bites. Hse- 

 matopota, Chrysops, Pangonia, Rat-tailed — Eristalis Tenax. 



The hornet asilus (^4. Crabroniformis) , easily recognized by 

 the hornet like constriction of its body, is one of the most preda- 

 ceous and troublesome of insect pests. 



The tabanidae are remarkable alike for their large size, the 

 breadth of the somewhat flattened body, for the compression of 

 the head from before backward, for the 3 articled antenna the 

 last segment annulated and devoid of hairs and for the perforating 

 lancets in the rostrum of the female for purposes of blood sucking. 



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