
INSECTS AND DISEASE 
behind. Holy-water founts in churches are a favorite breeding-place. 
Out of doors the larve occur in tanks, barrels, rain-barrels, rain- 
troughs and discarded bottles and tins. The larva, when suspended 
from the surface film, hang nearly perpendicular..... Unlike many 
other mosquitoes they (the adult females) emit no sound when about 
to bite. The male likewise persecutes man and this has led to a 
widely quoted statement of Ficalbi that it sucks blood; however, it 
does not pierce the skin but laps sweat from the surface and in this 
way causes some irritation.” 
Several other families of nematocerous Diptera should be briefly 
mentioned on account of their blood-sucking habits. 
Psychodidae. Some of the characteristics of this family were 
siven on page 29. The most common—possibly the only—genus 
found in the vicinity of New York City is Psychoda. Its larve live 
in decaying vegetable matter, exuding sap, cow dung, and other 
moist excrementitious matter. The small, moth-like adults run well 
but fly weakly. They feed largely on nectar and rarely, if ever, 
‘bite’ animals, although they. may sip fluids from wounds. In the 
tropics there is a genus, Phlebotomus, in which the species have the 
proboscis rather elongated and these do pierce the skin of man and 
other animals for the purpose of sucking blood. Some of these 
species are believed to be instrumental in the transmission of disease. 
Simuliidae. See page 29 for some of the characteristics of the 
family. The species have received various common names including 
“buffalo gnats,” “‘black-flies,’’ ‘“‘sand-flies’’ and ‘“‘turkey gnats.” 
The principal genus is Simulium and, although there are not many 
species, individuals sometimes occur in countless hordes. The larve 
live in running water, usually where the current is swiftest. There 
the larve sit on their tails catching for food the organic matter which 
the stream floats to them. They are often so numerous that the 
object on which they are gathered seems to be covered with moss. 
Unfortunately, the bite of the adult is not in proportion to its small 
size and when hundreds of bites are received in one day it is easy to 
believe the reports of deaths of both cattle and human beings from 
the bites alone. In addition to this, they have been suggested as 
possible carriers of anthrax to cattle and of pellagra to man. 
The Ceratopogonide were mentioned on page 29 because of 
their biting habits; they have not, as yet, been connected with any 
disease. The species of Culicoides are the blood-sucking ‘“‘punkies’’ 
or ‘‘no-see-ums.” The larve are aquatic. 
35 
