DIRECT INJURIES CAUSED BY INSECTS. 59 
well between Hymenoptera and Diptera, when he says the former have — 
their sting in the éai/, and the latter in the mouth; and that to the one 
this weapon is given as the instrument of vengeance, and to the other of 
avidity. But the instrument of avidity in the genus of which I am 
speaking, is even more terrible than that of vengeance in most insects that 
are armed with it; like the latter also, as appears from the consequent 
inflammation and tumour, it instils into its wound a poison ; the principal 
use of which, however, is to render the blood more fluid, and fitter for 
suction. This weapon, which is more complex than the sting of hymeno- 
pterous insects, consisting of five pieces besides the exterior sheath, some 
of which seem simply lancets, while others are barbed like the spicula of 
a bee’s sting, is at once calculated for piercing the flesh and forming a 
siphon adapted to imbibe the blood.? There are several species of this 
genus whose bite is severe, but none is to be compared to the common 
gnat (Culex pipiens L.), if, as has been generally affirmed, it be synonymous — 
with the mosquito (though, in all probability, several species are con- 
founded under both names); and to this, the most insatiable of blood- 
suckers, I shall principally direct your attention.® 
In this country they are justly regarded as no trifling evil; for they 
follow us to all our haunts, intrude into our most secret retirements, assail 
us in the city and in the country, in our houses and in our fields, in the 
sun and in the shade; nay, they pursue us to our pillows, and either keep 
us awake by the ceaseless hum of their rapid wings (which, according to — 
the Baron C. de Latour, are vibrated 3000 times per minute*), and their 
incessant endeavours to fix themselves upon our face, or some uncovered 
part of our body ; or if in spite of them we fall asleep, awaken us by the acute 
pain which attends the insertion of their oral stings ; attacking with most 
avidity the softer sex, and trying their temper by disfiguring their beauty. 
But although with us they are usually rather teasing than injurious, yet 
upon some occasions they have approached nearer to the character of a 
plague, and emulated with success the mosquitos of other climates. Thus, 
we are told that in the year 1736 they were so numerous, that vast 
columns of them were seen to rise in the air from Salisbury Cathedral, which 
at a distance resembled columns of smoke, and occasioned many people to 
that the term Mosquito, signifying a little fly, is applied there to a Simulium Latr. 
(Simulia Meig.), and that the Culices, which are equally numerous and annoying, are 
called Zancudoes, which means long legs. ‘The former, he says, are what the French 
call Moustiques, and the latter Maringouins. (Personal Narrative, B.'T. v.93.) Hum- 
boldt’s remark, however, refers only to South America; Mv. Westwood informing us 
that Mosquito is certainly applied to a species of Culex in the United States, the in- 
habitants giving the name of b/ach-fly to a small Simulium. See “ An Introduction 
to the Modern Classification of Insects, by J. O. Westwood, I.LS.” 2 vols. Lond. 
1839—1841 (ii. 510.), a work invaluable to the entomologist both for its systematic 
details and vast mass of original and collected facts relative to the affinities, habits, 
and economy of insects. 
1 Plin, Hist. Nat. 1. xi. c.28, Aristot, Hist. Animal. 1.i. ¢. 5. 
® Pliny was aware of this double office of the proboscis of a gnat, and has well 
described it, “Telum vero perfodiendo tergori quo spiculavit ingenio? Atque ut 
in capaci, cum cerni non possit exilitas, ita reciproca geminayit arte, ut fodiendo 
acuminatum pariter sorbendoque, fistulosum esset.” Hist, Nat. 1. xi. ¢. 2. 
5 Humboldt has described several South American species. Personal Narrative, 
y. 97. note *. Tingl. ‘I'r. 
4 Westwood, Mod. Clas. of Ins, ii. 50% 
