94 



that of a small fly. They are simuliums of the 

 family nemocerse of the system of Latreille. 

 Their sting is as painful as that of the stomoxes*. 

 It leaves a little reddish brown spot, which is 

 extravasated and coagulated blood, where their 

 proboscis has pierced the skin. An hour before 

 sunset a species of small gnats, called tempra- 

 neros^f, because they appear also at sunrise, 

 take the place of the moschettoes. Their pre- 

 sence scarcely lasts an hour and a half ; they 

 disappear between six and seven in the evening, 

 or, as they say here, after the Angelus {a la ora- 

 cion). After a few minutes repose, you feel 

 yourself stung by zancudoes, another species of 

 gnat (culex) with very long legs J. The zancu- 

 do, the proboscis of which contains a sharp- 

 pointed sucker, causes the most acute pain, and 



Spanish colonies. The word zancudo signifies longipes, long- 

 legs, qui dene las zancas largas. The moschettoes of the Oroo- 

 noko are the moustiques ; the zancudoes are the maringouins 

 of French travellers. 



* Conops calcitrans. 



f Which appear at an early hour (temprano). Some persons 

 say, that the zancudo is the same tempranero, which returns at 

 night, after hiding itself for some time. I have doubts of 

 this identity of the species ; the pain caused by the sting of 

 the two insects appeared to me different. 



X The zancudoes of the Oroonoko, called aniit by the May- 

 pures, have the corselet of a brownish green, with white 

 wings,, the feet blackish brown, with the extremities white. 



