SECOND REPORT 
Of the Colorado Siologie&l 
Assoei&lion. 
EDITED BY THE SECRETARY. 
We hope shortly to issue a report, 
in pamphlet=form, giving lin account 
of work done, and also a list of mem- 
bers. In the meanwhile, we publish 
the names of those who join from 
week to week. • 
(18.) H. W. Nash, P. O. box 734, 
Pueblo, C< lorado. 
(19.) Geo. Dimmock, Editor of 
! “Psyche,’ Cambridge, Massachusetts. 
(20.) A. Sv. Bjornson, M. D. 
Westcliffe, Colorado. 
(21.) Grant burner, Editor of the 
Custer County Courant, Silver 
Ciiff, Colorado. 
The Buffalo Gnat. (Simulium.) — 
The U. S. Entomologist, in his re- 
port foi 1886, writes as follows: “For 
many years pistone of the greatest 
insect foes the stock-raisers of the 
lower Mississippi valley have had to 
contend with has Been the so-called 
Southern Buffalo Gnat. This insect 
is a small fly, closely related to the 
well-known “Black Fly” of the north, 
to the famous “Columbacz Gnat” of 
Hungary, and toother less known but 
as noxious specious of the genus Si- 
mulium, found abundantly in Lap- 
land, Brazil and Australia. These flies 
swarm in certain seasons in immense 
numbers, and by their bite, multiplied 
a thousand fold, cause great destruc- 
tion among mules, horses, cattle, hogs, 
sheep and poultry.” This report of 
Prof. Riley’s, fortunately fo* us, refers 
to a species different from ours, and 
far more injurious. Yet we have, in 
the monntains of Colorado, a species 
of Simulium which attacks horses, es- 
pecially where, from one cause or an- 
other, the hair has deen partially rub- 
bed off, or any slight injury involving 
abrasion of the skin has occurred. 
The^e gnats may be distinguished 
from the common mosquito, which 
they somewhat resemble, b\ %beir 
shorter form, broader and rounrta: 
wings, and especially their large amr 
almost humped thorax, looking some- 
thing like the hump of a buffalo when 
viewed sideways — whence their name. 
They may be called the mountain 
buffalo gnat, to distinguish them from 
the Southern species. Mr. Roby, of 
Holy Cross, Eagle county, sent a 
wing of what he writes is there called 
the “Red mosquito,” it appears, from 
the wing, to be a Simulium, but as 
our “Mountain buffalo gnat” is not 
red, it is presumably a different spe- 
cies from that. 
Accompaming the Mountain buffa- 
lo gnat in Custer county, we find a 
smaller gnat, with wings which are 
partly blackish or dark grey; these 
little gnats are more numerous than 
the buffalo gnats, but seem unable to 
to puncture through the skin ahd hair 
of a horse for themselves, so they wait 
until the buffalo gnats have had* their 
fill, or a sore spot is formed, and as= 
semble as close as they can pack to 
suck at the wound, causing irritation 
and making matters worse. Speci- 
mens of this small gnat were sent to 
the Department of Agriculture at 
Washington, but could not be identi- 
fied Scientifically; we may conven- 
iently allude to them as the “wound 
gnat.” 
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