82 HARVEST-BUGS. 
mouse, andbat. They are most numerous late in July and 
during August, hence the name ‘‘Harvest-mite.”’ 
As the writer was present when the two following har- 
vest-mites were discovered and described, when, in fact, he 
had to sacrifice a piece of his skin containing them for the 
above purpose, he will quote the describer’s article in ‘‘Col- 
man’s Rural World” for June 2, 1876. 
THE AMERICAN HARVEST-MITE. 
(Leptus americanus Ril.). 
‘This species is barely visible to the naked eye, moves read- 
ily, and is found more frequently upon children than upon 
adults. It lives mostly upon the s@alp and under the arm- 
pits, but is frequently found on the other parts of the body. 
It does not bury itself in the flesh, but simply insinuates the 
anterior part of its body just under the skin, thereby caus- 
ing intense irritation, followed by a little red pimple. As 
with our common ticks, the irritation lasts only while the 
animal is securing itself, and its presence would afterward 
scarcely be noticed but for the pimple which results. 
THE IRRITATING HARVEST-MITE. 
(Leptus urritans Ril.). 
“This is the most troublesome and perhaps best known of the 
two causing intenseirritation and swelling on all parts of the 
body, but more especially around the legs and ankles. Woe 
betide the person who, after bathing in the Mississippi, or 
anywhere in this latitude (Missouri), is lured to some green 
dressing spot of grass or weeds. He may for the time con- 
sider himself fortunate in getting rid of mud and dirt, but he 
will afterward find, to his sorrow, that he got hold of some- 
thing far more tenacious in these microscopic harvest-mites. 
If he has obtained a good supply of them he will in a few 
hours begin to suffer from severe itching, and for the next 
two or three days he will be likely to scratch until his limbs 
are sore. 
“With the strong mandibles and the elbowed maxille, 
which act like arms, this mite is able to bury itself complete- 
