* 
LETTERS ON ENTOMOLOGY. 11 
We likewise learn from him that there are three 
kinds : the Mosquitos, flying in the day ; the 
Temporaneros, flying in the twilight; and the 
Zancudos, in the night; so that these unfortunate 
beings have no respite from their tormentors, 
which make almost uninhabitable all places where 
they particularly abound. After this account we 
cannot be surprised that they have given their 
names to bays, towns, and countries. There is 
Mosquito Bay, in St. Christopher's ; the town of 
Mosquitos, in Cuba ; and the Mosquito country, 
in North America; which are sufficient and me- 
lancholy proofs of their importance. Of all in- 
sects the locust is the most celebrated, for its 
powers of destruction, and dreaded more than 
an army of wild beasts ; yet this insect is not 
large, and is only herbivorous. Figure to your- 
self a country so covered that the ground cannot 
be seen; all its produce devoured, and not the 
least vestige of herbage left. In the year of the 
world 3800, Africa was infested by such infinite 
myriads of these animals that, having devoured 
every thing green, they flew off into the sea and 
were drowned; where, being cast on the shore, 
they emitted a stench greater than could have 
been caused by the carcases of an army. St. 
Augustine mentions a plague arising from the 
