July 8, 1905.] 
FOREST AND STREAM 
27 
Familiar Insects. — I. 
BY CLARENCE M. WEED. 
Black Flies. 
To A LARGE proportion of the readers of this journal 
Ihe black fly is only toO' familiar as an insect that has 
made life a burden when otherwise it would have been 
a delight. In this article I want to tell something of its 
life-history and of an experiment in destroying it in its 
breeding grounds. 
Like most other insects the black fly goes through cer- 
tain stages of life which are commonly referred to as 
transformations. These stages are first the eggs, second 
the larva, third the pupa, and fourth the adult. The eggs 
are laid upon rocks in the rapids of small streams, espe- 
c'ally at the edges of the water ripples. They are laid 
in the shallowest places and are especially likely to be 
deposited where the water runs in a broad sheet over a 
large expanse of flat rock. Soon after being laid the 
eggs hatch into larv^, which have the curious ability to 
spin a silken web over the rock to hold them in place in 
the running water. The surface of the rock is often 
thickly matted by this web with millions of small black- 
ish larvae entangled in its meshes. They continue to de- 
velop for several weeks before they change to pupae, after 
which they soon change again to adult flies. These flies 
are often so abundant that as one writer has said, they 
“drive the fisherman out of the woods, torment the cat- 
tle in the pasture, and pester the farmer in the field.” 
Black-fly. Gr.eatly magnified.. 
From the point of view of reducing the numbers of 
this pest the fact that they usually develop in any region 
only in comparatively limited areas in sunny parts of 
small streams is of great importance. If the larvae can 
be destroyed in their breeding grounds, the appearance 
of the flies will, of course, be prevented. 
Some two years ago, when my official position was 
that of entomologist at the New Hampshire College Ex- 
periment Station, I undertook, with the aid of my assist- 
ant, Mr. A. F. Conradi, to determine whether the sup- 
pression of black flies in a region favorable to the ex- 
periment was practicable. The locality chosen was the 
Dixville Notch region in New Hampshire. This was 
peculiarly favorable for such an experiment, as it is a 
comparatively small area, surrounded by mountains over 
which nO' flies from other localities would be likely to 
come regularly. Much of this inclosed region is occu- 
pied by a beautiful lake. 
A reconnoissance of the general locality showed that 
the black flies which for many years had been a serious 
pest tO‘ summer visitors, were breeding in abundance at 
the wasteway connected with the dam and in a small 
brook which led from the Notch toward the river. 
After the determination of these breeding places the 
problem became that of finding some practicable method 
of destroying the larvae in the water. Two ways of doing 
this were tried ; in the places where there were broad, flat 
rocks on which the larv^ were developing they were 
swept away by stiff brooms, a method which was effective 
to a very general extent ; where sweeping was not prac- 
ticable a small quantity of an oil heavier than water, such 
as is manufactured for exterminating mosquitoes under 
certain conditions, was applied. This oil proved very 
effective in destroying the larvae. The chief objection to 
its general use is the danger of injury to fish, but in very 
many localities black fly breeding places may be found 
where the oil may be used to advantage by temporarily 
diverting the small stream from its regular channel until 
the oil has flowed away. 
A record of these experiments may be found in Bul- 
letin 112 of the New Hampshire Experiment Station, 
which may be had by applying to the station at Durham, 
N. H. It seems to me that they show that great relief 
from the annoyance of black flies may readily be ob- 
tained in many localities in most northern regions. It 
should be easier to exterminate black flies than it is to 
get rid of mosquitoes. 
We quote from Bulletin 112, referred to by Mr. Weed: 
“Upon his arrival Mr. Conradi made a careful survey 
of the entire locality, finding no flies breeding in the 
swiftly-running shaded streams along the mountain sides, 
but finding vast numbers breeding in the shallow, sunlit 
waters at the wasteway from the lake and in two or three 
other places. His notes upon the first experiment with 
the oil treatment are as follows : 
“ ‘At the w^asteway, near the lake dam, where the 
stream is approximately five feet wide, one-third of a 
gallon of phinotas oil was applied at 4 A. M., June 22. 
The effect was at once noticeable. At 2 P. M., the same 
day, most of the larvae were dead, while the remainder 
w-ere sluggish. On the afternoon of the next day, the 
conditions were carefully investigated, and all the larv« 
were found to be dead, not only where the oil was ap- 
plied but for ten feet or so ahead as well. 
“ ‘The oil was applied by simply pouring it over a 
shingle, thus scattering it somewhat. It sinks and rises 
and lingers long about the place. Stones in the water 
picked up forty-eight hours after the application had a 
thin film of oil still on them.’ 
“When Mr. Conradi reported the results of his trip, it 
seemed to me that the problem was in part at least 
solved, the chief perplexing feature being the possible 
deleterious effect upon fish of the application of the oil 
in quantity. From the similarity of the breeding-places 
he found to the one I had been observing, it occurred to 
me that a little work with stilff brooms in sweeping free 
the masses of larv^, and then catching them down stream 
on wire netting stretched in the water might be helpful 
where the oil could not be applied. Accordingly, I sent 
to Dixville Notch a barrel of phinotas oil and a supply 
of stiff stable brooms. When these arrived Mr. Conradi 
went again with specific directions as to the use of the 
brooms and the application of the oil, espec'ally in the 
latter case, as to the effect upon fish life. He found that 
the sweeping method was entirely practicable and offered 
in some breeding grounds, a simple means of destroying 
the pests. He also found that in a brook three feet wide, 
where in June the flies were breeding in vast quantities, 
and in which he had poured one gallon of phinotas oil, 
the young stages of tfie flies had been killed off for a 
distance of one-eighth of a mile from the place of applica- 
tion. As regards fish, he found that they swam rapidly 
down stream as soon as it was applied, and apparently 
were able to escape with nO' evil results to themselves. 
“Shortly after the treatment the adult black flies became 
SO' scarce that the hotel manager discarded the smudges 
which for the past twelve summers had been in daily use 
for the protection of the guests. 
“The Phinotas Chemical Company, New York city, fur- 
nished in the spring of 1904 two grades of oil for experi- 
mental use. One is called soluble oil, and the other is 
the insoluble oil used last year. On mixing with water 
the differences between the two are readily seen. The 
former mixes at once, while the latter sinks to the bot- 
tom and gradually rises. I tried both sorts in the water 
at the outlet to the college reservoir, where the black 
fly larvae were abundant. Both appeared to be effective 
in killing them, but further experiments are necessary to 
determine which is the better. Very likely under some 
conditions one may be better, and under others, the other. 
It is probable that the insoluble oild would be less likely 
to injure fishes. 
“It is_ unlawful in this State to kill fish by the use of 
any poisonous substance. Consequently care must be 
taken in the use of oil against black fly larvae. An 
amendment to the law by which town authorities might 
exterminate the black flies on their breeding grounds is 
desirable. There need be little if any injury to fish, 
through an intelligent use of the oil remedy. With the 
sweeping method there is no danger whatever.” 
Pleading fot the Buffalo* 
From the^New York Times, June 30. 
Forest and Stream declares that “during the next 
session of Congress a strenuous effort should be made 
by all the people who have a respect for things Ameri- 
can to induce the Government to acquire and care for 
all the remaining specimens of the American buffalo 
now alive and not in zoological collections.” Execu- 
tion of this plan would require the setting aside of 
several tracts of wild land in the Indian reservations, 
each large enough to support from sixty to seventy- 
five of the animals. The cost of fencing would be con- 
siderable, and each park would have to be guarded by 
about four men, employed the year round. The buffalo 
are now on the very verge of extermination, and the 
lives of those in private hands, as was recently shown 
by the Ranch loi episode, hang by the slenderest of 
threads. The largest herd, of about 250 animals, is 
owned by Michel Pablo, a mixed-blood Indian on the 
Flathead Reservation, who is soon to lose his range 
by the opening of these lands to settlers, and he will 
then have to sell his buffalo, alive or dead, for what 
he can get. ' As Forest and Stream admits, the ques- 
tion is wholly one_ of sentiment. The buffalo is of no 
practical _ commercial value, and its fitness for longer 
survival in the wild state was long ago thoroughly dis- 
proved, while in domestication or semi-domestication 
the cost of its maintenance will always be far beyond 
any possible money return. It is, however, a creature 
legitimately interesting in various ways, all legitimate, 
and there is no doubt that the country can well afford 
for many years to come to utilize in the preservation 
of a few hundred of these distinctively American mam- 
mals the amount of land requisite for showing them 
in an approximation to their natural condition. A 
good deal of sloppy nonsense has been written about 
the “ruthless” warfare that in ten or fifteen years 
robbed the plains of countless herds, to the very small 
profit of a very few men, but it really was a piece of 
bad and stupid business, to say nothing of its moral 
and sentimental aspects, and the display now of a little 
intelligent regard for the survivors of the massacre, a 
little consideration for the pleasure and instruction of 
our successors in the land, would be a seemly mani- 
festation of regret for the irreparable. The buffalo had 
to go under the working of a great natural law of 
which the reckless hunters were only the- unconscious 
instruments of application, but we can get around this 
law, in a small way and for a short time, just as we get 
around others of its kind — in seeming, that is — and to 
do so would be diversely creditable to the country. 
The Gfeat Horned Owl. 
Oakland, Cal., June 19.— I know of no source of in- 
formation more satisfactory than the Forest and Stream 
in its own particular field. In the multitude of its readers 
are to be found manly sportsmen of the highest class, 
whose knowledge is for the most part derived from their 
own experience. It is true that even the experts differ 
sometimes on quite important matters. See the clink of 
steel-shod poles and Old Angler on artificial salmon 
hatching, and I have never forgotten nor quite forgiven 
the wag who soine years ago wrote in such glowing 
terms of the edible qualities of the glossy ibis; but 
for all that the evidence deduced, either editorially or 
from contributors, is usually so intelligent and minute 
that the reader has no difficulty in arriving at conclu- 
sions that are at least satisfactory to himself. Therefore 
when I wrote the owl letter of inquiry I felt fairly sure it 
would elicit a satisfactory solution to the whole matter, 
and I was not disappointed — the editorial furnished the 
general details required; Mr. Hardy, who, with his 
amiable and gifted daughter, I rank with the most re- 
liable of your contributors, gave his personal experience; 
and Mr. O. H. Hampton, a very interesting incident of 
their surprising strength that came under his own ob- 
servation. 
The conclusions are that while there is no larger owl 
in the sections under discussion than the great horned 
species, he is capable of deeds of strength that can hardly 
be surpassed by any bird of his weight, and must be able 
to fly away with a load as heavy as himself. 
Forked Deer. 
A Rtiffed Groose Eats a Snake. 
AATst Chester, Pa., June 27. — Mr. Arthur Chapman, 
of Doylestown, Bucks county, Pa., is an experienced 
naturalist who has hunted ruffed grouse and quail for 
thirty-five years. Mr. Chapman has often examined the 
crops and gizzards of game birds. 
On one of his shooting trips in early autumn he shot 
SGVGia.1 pnc3,S3.ntSj the stonicichs of which he exHtnnic<l 
and was surprised to delect in one the remains of a rep- 
this unexpected food of the bird named 
yhapman in a letter to the undersigned says : 
“Finding the snake in the crop of the pheasant was sO' 
unexpected that it has been easily remembered The 
snake was one of the little green fellows about eight 
inches in length. There were no visible signs of decom- 
position, It was intact with the exception of about an 
inch below the head and then for the space of another 
mch it had been pinched or mashed, the same as would 
have resulted from pounding between stones I have 
always been of the opinion that the bird killed the snake 
as It had every appearance of life, excepting as above 
stated. B. H. Warren. 
An Old Cock Pattridge in Chatge of a Brood. 
While trout fishing a few days ago I started a flock of 
young partridges (ruffed grouse). As soon as they be- 
gan to fly the old one attacked me, as usual, but I was 
very much surprised to see that the bird in charge of the 
flock was a very large old male. There could be no mis- 
take, as he was very near me, without a bush or tree be- 
tween us. He strutted round me with tail spread and 
neck ruffs erected till the young had time to hide. I have 
seen flocks of young partridges for sixty years, but this 
IS the hist C3.se where I ever S3w 3n old. cock in chsrsre 
of a brood. Whether the hen had gone to a club meet- 
ing or to play bridge wdiist is more than I know, but she 
certainly was not with the chicks. M Hardy 
Jnst Plain Rabbit. 
Some hunters there are ,of the superfined and dudish 
sort, who deny to the rabbit any position among leo-iti- 
mate game animals; and there are others who, wliile 
grudgingly admitting rabbits to the list, seem to think it 
necessary to excuse their concession by calling them 
hares. I regard all this as pure affectation and nonsense 
I deem it not beneath my dignity and standing as a 
reputable gunner to write of the rabbit as an entirely 
suitable member of the game community; and in doing 
so I ain not_ dealing with hares or any other thing ex- 
cept plain, little, every day plebeian rabbits— sometimes 
appropriately called “cotton-tails.”— Grover Cleveland in 
Independent. ’ 
No MUSIC IS so sweet to the angler’s ear as the whir 
of the reel, for it announces not only the triumph of his 
individual skill in tempting the fish to forget their habit- 
ual caution, but it promises the pleasure of, and the happv 
issue to, the coming contest.” — Henry P. Wells 
