1913] 
Burr-ill, The (riant Midge, Chironomus plumosus. 
127 
reservoir or mains is more than offset by the imminent danger of 
becoming so numerous in hot weather as to prove on dying, a 
source of pollution; while less important, “the presence of masses 
of such ‘ugly’ looking creatures .would be objectionable” even 
though they “in themselves could be considered harmless.” 
The superabundance of any insect may be an annoyance to 
man just as truly as we affirm for a weed defined as a “plant out 
of place.” The idea that superabundance in any creature consti¬ 
tutes a pest to man wherever its numbers come in man’s way is 
but gradually meeting with acceptance in this country. A com¬ 
parable case with its inevitable conclusion which I wish to apply 
to midges- is cited by the well-known observer, Dr. Sylvester D. 
Judd (1901, July 3, p. 35). Speaking of the Marshall Hall, 
Maryland, opposite Mt. Vernon, Virginia, he says “during May, 
1899, the May-flies which emerged from the river, became a 
plague, alighting upon the farm buildings and literally covering 
them, frightening the horses, annoying the workmen, and infest¬ 
ing the farmhouse in such swarms that it was well-nigh unin¬ 
habitable.May-flies do not ordinarily become obnoxiously 
abundant, but when they do, even their function in furnishing sub¬ 
sistence to valuable food fishes does not save them from being 
ranked as pests, the destruction of which is beneficial.” Once 
granted that this annoyance may become occasionally serious, a 
study of the creature’s habits and of methods for its control may 
be supposedly welcome and timely. 
I shall attempt to set forth a few facts, indicating to what 
extent the giant midge may become obnoxious to man, so far as 
T have been able to gather data, and at the same time combine 
field notes on this ‘roaring’ midge which have appeared in the 
literature in previous years but have not, I believe, been accredited 
usually to a definite species. The data compared with the habits 
of other midges may be said to furnish materials for a monograph 
of the Giant Midge, since the only monograph published on a 
boreal midge, “The Harlequin Fly, C. dorsalis” (Miall and Ham¬ 
mond, 1900) lacks much in field notes for American students, 
however complete it may be for the English student. Dr. A. 
Thienemann’s (1911 380-2) proposed task of restudying all the 
species and of working out the life histories for all is indeed well- 
timed and brilliantly conceived. 
