3 
The larva, or maggots do not live on or in animals, but in the 
ground, or sometimes in water, and are stated by recent writers 
to be carnivorous, living on small animals, snails, grubs, or the 
like ; our “ Great Gad Fly,” of which the history is given, fully 
illustrated (see Index), may be taken as a good example of Gad 
Fly life. 
The distinguishing points, put shortly, of the Tabanidce, are that 
the flies cause pain and injury by blood-sucking, and the maggots 
live in the ground. 
It is very much to be wished that all who write or teach, 
regarding the nature and habits of the above two families of flies, 
would do what they can to cause the above very plain differences to 
be kept in mind, and the right names used, for the confusion arising 
from the demonstrably wrong popular name being often made use 
of, even in technical cattle reports or scientific papers, adds very 
much to difficulties as to requisite remedial measures; and the 
applications to myself, even from high official quarters (almost up 
to date), to give some plain definitions by which the different kinds 
of flies might be certainly distinguished, will, I hope, be my excuse 
for the re-iteration above, of description, in order to condense the 
points into what can be borne in mind. 
Besides the two above-mentioned families of flies, which give 
rise to trouble to stock in the open fields, there is yet another 
family, of which the attacks can scarcely be classed with them, as 
(in our two chief infestations) one of them is not drawn attention 
to by noticeable signs of discomfort; and the other (although 
accompanied by the circumstance of horses, on their first introduction 
to it, sometimes going nearly wild with terror) is only local. These 
are respectively the small wingless “ Sheep Spider Fly,” often, 
though erroneously, known as the “ Sheep Tick ” (Melophagus 
ovinus), and the Horse Forest Fly ( Hippobosca equina), which was 
formerly supposed to be confined to the New Forest in Hampshire, 
and its neighbourhood, but is now known to occur in at least two 
other localities, one in North, and one in South Wales. 
These flies have the very marked characteristic of, so far as 
external appearances go, having no maggots at all. They belong 
b 2 
