[79] 



Report of the State Entomologist, 



221 



States, or in other countries, it would have been known long ago to 

 scientists. The story as told, therefore, of the Texas fly, need not be 

 credited, and it does not seem advisable to make the application of tar 

 to protect from injuries which probably do not occur. 



The publication of the above called forth the following communica- 

 tion, contained in the Country Gentleman of Octo*ber 11, 1888, which 

 gave us the first definite information regarding the habits of the new 

 insect, and was also accompanied with specimens of the same: 



Eds. Country Gentleman. — The small cow-fly referred to by your 

 correspondent, on page 705, first attracted general attention in Chester 

 county, Penn., in 1886. How long they may have been present in 

 lesser numbers we do not know, but in that year they caused general 

 comment by their habit of congregating on the horns of cattle, seem- 

 ing at the first glance like a mass of tar, extending some three or four 

 inches on the upper surface of the horn. Examination would soon 

 show that they were not confined to the horns or head, but attacking 

 the animal generally — neglecting, however, the legs and feet, where 

 the ordinary fly is particularly troublesome. They especially feed 

 on the shoulders and at the root of the tail — our cattle generally 

 having a sore spot on the hairless skin on each side of the tail. 

 They are, as will be seen by the sample mailed, about one-half as 

 large as the ordinary fly, and quite like them in appearance. They 

 avoid horses entirety, and appear to have largely reduced the number 

 of their predecessors. They do not bite the milkers as the others did, 

 and their several bites do not appear to annoy the cattle nearly as 

 much as the old ones; but they are much more persistent, and come 

 early in spring, long before "fly-time." For want of a better name, 

 our farmers are calling them Texan flies. 



It is generally affirmed that they cling to the cow and bite all night. 

 From my own observations, I doubt their feeding then. 



It would be of considerable interest to learn how much of our 

 country the fly has appeared in, and when it was first observed. Your 

 readers can give us the information, no doubt* 



J. L. B. 



Kennett Square, Chester Co., Pa. 



The fly was unknown to me. It was evidently closely allied to our 

 well-known and common biting fly, Stomoxys calcitrans (Linn.), which 

 appears in autumn and attacks animals and men, often entering our 

 houses, and from its marked resemblance to the common house fly, 

 not recognized as different until it inflicts a sudden, sharp, stinging- 

 bite through the stocking or elsewhere on the leg — seldom on any 

 other part of the body. If caj^tured and examined, the long, slender 

 and projecting proboscis with which the bite is inflicted may be 

 readily seen. 



*No one, as yet, has given an earlier date than the above for the first appearance of 

 the fly, nor has its distribution been ascertained. 



