602 
DIPTERA. 
swelling which last several days. These little tormentors 
are of a black color; their wings are transparent; and their 
legs are short, and have a broad whitish ring aronnd them. 
The length of their body rarely exceeds one tenth of an inch. 
They begin to appear in May, and continue about six weeks, 
after which they are no more seen. They are followed, 
however, by swarms of midges, or sand-flies (^SimuUum 
nocivurri), called no-see-’em, by the Indians of Maine, on 
account of their minuteness. So small are they, that they 
would hardly be perceived, were it not for their wings, 
which are of a whitish color, mottled with black. Towards 
evening these winged atoms come forth, and creep under 
the clothes of the inhabitants, and by their bites produce 
an intolerable irritation, and a momentary smarting, com¬ 
pared * to that caused by sparks of Are. They do not draw 
blood, and no swelling follows their attacks. They are most 
troublesome durino; the months of Julv and Auo;ust. 
The most common of our large gad-flies, or horse-flies, 
appears to be the Tabaniis atratus of Fabricius. It is of 
a black color, and the back is covered with a whitish bloom, 
like a plum. The eyes are very large, and almost meet 
on the top of the head; they are of a shining purple-black 
or bronzed black color, with a narrow jet-black band across 
the middle, and a broad band of the same hue on the lower 
part. The body of this fly is 
seven eighths of an inch or more 
in length, and the wings expand 
nearly two inches. The Tabanus 
cinctus (Fig. 261) of Fabricius, 
or orange-belted horse-fly, is not 
so common and is rather smaller. 
It is also black, except the first 
three rings of the hind body, which are orange-colored. 
The most common of our smaller horse-flies is the Tabanus 
lineola (Fig. 262), so named by Fabricius, because it has 
* See Gosse’s Canadian Naturalist, p. 100. 
Fig. 261. 
