mo- ' , " 7 vi ,',1,1' Bririsi) rRuscum (natural Ristorp). yViis 2s No...u..O>. of 25 copies of the " /llust7'ations of African Blooci-Sncking Flies,'" printed on special paper. r»RESEISTE:i> BY ^bc vTrustccs OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM. t ' '"'■ 'till' ?i^ii if .\ -i\ 1 ► T :»i#^ I (PL. ILLUSTRATIONS OF AFPJCAN BLOOD -SUCKING FLIES OTHEE THAN MOSQUITOES AND TSETSE-FLIES BY ERNEST EDWARD AUSTEN, rr/ ASSISTANT IN THE DEPAETMENT OF ZOOLOGY. BRITISH MUSEUM (NATUEAL HISTORY), WITH COLOURED FIGURES BY GRACE EDWARDS. f^o z h/s f^SftARIES LONDON : PRINTED BY ORDER OF THE TRUSTEES OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM. SOLD BY Longmans & Co., 39, Paternoster Row, EC; B. QuARiTCH, 11, Grafton Street, New Bond Street, W.; DuLAu & Co., 37, SoHO Square, W. ; and at THE British Museum (Natural History), Cromwell Road, S.W. 1909. All rights reserved. d UC I 7 1909 PREFACE. The belief that Insects act as the carriers of certain diseases has only of late years been scientifically established. There is, however, at the present time no disposition to underrate the practical importance of an accurate knowledge of the blood-sucking forms. It is hoped that the " Illustrations " now published may be of service to some of those who are engaged in the conflict with disease in Africa, as well as to others who are interested in the study of the Diptera. A scheme for the preparation of a Monograph dealing with blood- sucking Insects in general was made by Sir E. Ray Lankester, K.C.B., when Director of the Natural History Departments of the British Museum, To wait until the Monograph could have been completed would have been to delay unduly the pubhcation of the information which can now be given. The Diptera, or Two-winged Flies, are not only wanting in the attractiveness of form and colour so noticeable in the Lepidoptera for instance, but they are even regarded with disUke by the majority of people These considera- tions will account for some of the deficiencies in the collections contained in our Museums ; and the preparation of a satisfactory Monograph must accordingly be preceded by the accumulation of a large amount of material for study. The Trustees therefore decided, on the suggestion of Mr. Charles 0. Waterhouse, Assistant Keeper in charge of the Insect Section, to issue a series of volumes, from time to time, deahng with the blood-sucking Diptera in the way that is found possible and desirable at the moment. Four volumes of a Monograph of Mosquitoes, by Mr. F. V. Theobald, have been issued, from 1901 to 1907 ; and a fifth volume of the same Monograph is in course of preparation. The Tsetse-flies were described by Mr. E. E. Austen A 2 iv. Preface. in a work issued in 1903. The present volume deals with the Diptera, other than Mosquitoes and Tsetse-flies, which inhabit the parts of Africa indicated in the Author's Introduction. It is hoped that it will be followed in due course by other volumes of the same nature, and that these will collectively form material which will be of service in the compilation of a larger Monograph. The cordial thanks of the Museum are due to successive Secretaries of State for the Colonies for the encouragement that has been officially given to the Colonial Medical officers to make collections, and to send information to the Museum, as well as to those whose practical efforts in the field have proved so essential to the accomplishment of the present undertaking. SIDNEY F. HARMER, Keeper of Zoology. British Museum (Natural History), London, S.W. July, 1909. TXTIJODrcriON. The epooh-niaking discoveries, made within the hvst fourteen years as to the etiology and mode of dissemination of some of the most formidable diseases threateninu luuiiaii life and progress in the Tropics, have natiiially ])n)duced widesjjivad interest in the proved or j)otential Hving carriers of pathogenic micro-organisms. As regards IMood-sueking Fhes, at any rate, nowhere is this interest keener than in Tropical Africa, in the sanitation and development of which the greater number of European nations are more or less concerned. It was therefore thought that " African Blood-sucking Flies (other than Mosquitoes and Tsetse-Flies) " might well be selected as the subject of what is intended to be one of a series of volumes, dealing in a similar manner with the blood-sucking Diptera. In the present work no attempt has been made to provide detailed technical descriptions of species, since experience has shown that such descriptions are of little use to any but specialists. No pains have, however, been spared in order to make the illustrations as accurate as possible, and although it cannot be claimed that they are perfect, it is nevertheless hoped that the standard of accuracy attained in the figures is such as to render detailed descriptions unnecessary. For the purposes of this book, "African'' has been taken as signifying " Ethiopian," except that Egyptian species, owing to their close affinity to or identity with those found in the Anglo- Egyptian Sudan, have also been included; in other words, with the exception of Egypt, the countries lying to the north of the Tropic of Cancer, and therefore zoo-geographically beyond the northern limit of the Ethiopian Region, have been regarded as outside the scope of the work, so that species found in Tripoli, Tunis, Algeria, and Morocco have been left out of account. The concluding chapter has been devoted to lists of African Blood- VI. Introduction. sucking Flies arranged under countries. In many cases these lists are obviously of the most fragmentary description, owing to the small amount of material at present available for examination, but it is hoped that this chapter will enable a reader who is interested in a particular Colony or Protectorate to see at a glance what species are known to occur there. The lists will also serve as a basis for future work, and may help to suggest possible disseminators in the event of the outbreak of an epidemic or epizootic which may be thought to be due to Blood-sucking Flies. It must be clearly under- stood that the omission of the name of any given species from a particular Hst in no way implies that the species does not occur in the country in question, but simply that up to the present time no specimens of it have been received therefrom by the Museum, or that its occurrence has not been recorded. It may be added that no collections or specimens of Diptera have yet reached the Museum from Dahomey, or from German South- West Africa. The Blood-Sucking Flies of Africa belong to the same families as those found elsewhere, but certain genera of Tabanidae (as also the Tsetse-Fhes — genus Glossina) are confined to the Ethiopian Region, at least at the present day. Representatives of all these families (with the exception of the Culicidse, or Mosquitoes) are figured on the thirteen plates at the end of the volume, which provide illustrations of one hundred and two species. The vast majority of blood-sucking flies belong to the Tabanidse, and although no fewer than eighty-six of the species illustrated in this book are members of this family, those represented are less than one-third of the total number of African species of Tabanidse already known ; in the case of the remaining families a much larger proportion of the known African blood-sucking species is represented in the plates. In the first seven chapters, an attempt has been made to supply the fullest possible information as to the bionomics of the famihes, sub-families, genera, and species mentioned ; as will be seen, how- ever, in the case of many of the species the data at present available are limited to a record of localities and dates. The aU-important I)ilroduclion. vii. subject of the disseminaiion of disease has been kept prominently in view, and the statements of investigators and observers who have devoted themselves to this question will be found summarised under special headings. In the records of specimens in the possession of the Museum, the names of collectors and donors are printed in italics, in parentheses. Within the last few years many Colonial Medical Officers in Africa, acting under official encouragement in compliance with instructions from His Majesty's Secretar}^ of State for the Colonies, have made and forwarded to the Museum collections of blood- sucking flies occurring within their districts. Had it not been for the efforts of these and other gentlemen, which have resulted in a welcome increase in the amount of the material in the possession of the Museum, the production of this book would have been well- nigh impossible, and grateful acknowledgment of assistance rendered is accordingly^ due. While the names of all who have thus assisted cannot here be enumerated, special mention must be made of Colonel Sir David Bruce, C.B., A.M.S., F.R.S. ; the late Dr. W. A. Densham, of Uganda; the late Captain Hallam Hardy, R.A.M.C, of the Nyasaland Protectorate ; Dr. W. M. Graham, W.A.M.S. ; Dr. A. Yale Massey, late of the Tanganyika Concessions, Limited ; Dr. J. E. S. Old, of the Nyasaland Protectorate; and Dr. F. Creighton Wellman, late of Benguella, Angola. To the authorities of the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, the British Museum (Natural History) is indebted for the loan of a number of types in their possession, which has rendered it possible to include figures of several species of Tabanus recently described by Mr. J. R. M. Surcouf. The author desires to express his acknowledg- ments to Mr. C. O. Waterhouse, Assistant Keeper in charge of the Insect Section, Zoological Department, British Museum (Natural History), with whom it is but just to state that the idea of this book originated. In conclusion it is perhaps permissible to point out that in the matter of practical investigation by means of experiments on the spot, in order to determine the conveyance or non-conveyance of viii. Introduction. disease by means of blood-sucking flies other than Mosquitoes and Tsetse-FHes, the British have as yet lagged somewhat behind other nations. Should the present volume have the effect of facilitating such studies, and of drawing attention to the urgent need for work of this kind in our African Colonies and Protectorates, there will be much cause for congratulation. ERNEST E. AUSTEN. British Museum (Natural History), Cromwell Road, London, S.W. July I2th, 1909. CONTENTS. TAOK X rCIB«C6 •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• 111 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v Families and Genera Mentioned . . . . . . . . xi List of Plates . . . . . . . . . . • . . . xiii Chapter I. — ChironomidaB (Midges) . . . . . . . . 1 Chapter II. — Psychodidae . . . . . . . . . . 9 Chapter III. — Simuliidse . . . . . . . . . . . • 22 Chapter IV.— Tabanidaj (Horse-flies, Mangrove-flies, Seroots (Seruts) or Seroot-flies, Hippo-flies) . . . . 3G Chapter V. — Tabanidoe (continued). Subfamily Tabaninae. . 6G Chapter VI. — Muscidae .. .. .. .. •• •• 136 Chapter VII. — Hippoboscidae .. .. .. .. •• 1G3 Chapter VIII. — Geographical Lists .. .. .. •• 179 Index .. .. .. .. .. •• •• •• 213 FAMILIES AND GENERA MENTIONED IN THIS BOOK Chironomid.e SlMULIID.^i; psychodidje Tabanid^ MUSCID^ HlPPOBOSCID^ Culiooides. Johannseniella. Siniuliiiin. Phlebotomus. Chrysops. Mycteromyia. Pronopes. Hinea. Rhinomyza. Silvius. Cadicera. Pangonia. Diatomineiira (Pangonia). Subpangonia. Thriambeutes. Tabanus. Thaumastocera, Holcoceria. Ha?matopota. Parhsematopota. Hippocentrum. Philsomatomyia. Stomoxys. Stygeromyia. Lyperosia. Hippobosca, Echestypus. Lipoptena. Pseudolfersia. Olfersia. Lyncliia. Ornithorayia. LIST OF PLATES.* * N.B. — III tlio case of Tabanns bi localities as the larvae, usually " concealed in cracks in the stones and bricks," sums up his description of the pupal stage as follows : — " The j)upa is motionless, curved, with a dorsal concavity, yellow, and from 2 to 5 mm. in length ; it is very easily recognisable from the fact that the posterior extremity (last three segments) is enveloped in the wrinkled and brownish larval skin, which serves as a means of attachment. In shape the pupa is cylindriform, with the anterior half swollen, the posterior half attenuated, and the hind margins of the tergites produced into prominent ridges. When examined under a lens it appears bare. The respiratory papillae (tubes) are very small, two anterior and two posterior." Howlett Avrites : — " The pupa, like the larva, has a very characteristic appearance, ... Its most distinct feature is perhaps the prominent ridges and projections on the dorsal surface of the thorax. The duration of the pupal stage, like the others, varies according to temperature from 8-9 days in the rains to 28 days in December." The same author adds: — "The whole period of the life-history from the laying of the egg to the emergence of the tly from the pupa may thus be said to take about one month in the hot weather and two months or more in tiie cold weather. Observations have however not yet been carried on throughout the whole of the cold weather and the maximum length of life-history is not yet accurately known." The bionomics and life-history of Phlebotomus Phlebotomus have been dealt with at some length, since it as a has recently been discovered that these flies disease-carrier, ^^p of considerable im]iortance as disseminators c 18 of disease ; it is therefore eminently desirable that medical men in Tropical Africa should be familiar with the main facts in the economy of the insects, so far as these are at present known, in order that they may serve as a basis for future work. Until about a year ago there was no definite reason for re- garding the species of Phlebotomus with greater interest than the majority of other blood-sucking flies, — that is, as being anything more than potential disease-carriers by direct transmission. Dr. Andre Pressat, Medical Officer of the Suez Canal Company, stated in 1905 that a species of Phlebotomus (very possibly Ph. papatasii, Scop.), which occurs in Egypt, " appears to play an important part in the propagation of Oriental sore," but no evidence was given in support of the assertion.* Again, certain observations made in India by Captain J. D. E. Holmes, I. M.S., Imperial Bacteriologist, point to the advisability of instituting experiments in order to determine whether Phlebotomus is capable of acting as a transmitter of surra and other forms of trypanosomiasis. f Be this as it may, in 1908 it was conclusively proved by the well-known Austrian Army Surgeon R. Doerr, acting as a member of a commission, of which the other members were StafP-Surgeons Franz and Taussig, also of the Austrian Army, that an endemic, non-fatal, three-day fever prevalent during the hot weather in Herzegovina and Dalmatia, is disseminated by the bites of Phlebotomus papatasii, known locally, as also in Italy, as " Pappataci." This fever, which, * Cf. Andre Pressat, " Le Paludisme et Les Moustiques " (Paris : Masson et Cie., 1905), PI. III., and accompanying explanation. Pressat, who mentions that the insect "passes through tlie meshes of the finest mosquito-curtains," and that it " flies noiselessly, and its bites produce a persistent itching," says that it is called in Arabic Akhl-ou-Skout. According to Dr. F. M. Sandwith, the correct form of this phrase is Akhl-es-Skout, meaning "silent eater." ■j- Writing from the Imperial Bacteriological Laboratory, Muktesar (Naini Tal District), United Provinces, India, on January 23rd, 1908, Captain Holmes said: — • " Last year an outbreak of surra carried off over one hundred tonga ponies on this road . . . We noticed a very interesting point. The ponies were badly bitten at night, and in the morning the hairs on the neck and back were covered with small blood-clots. No Tabanidfe or Stomoxys were to be found at this time (evening, night, or very early morning), and the only insect that we could detect on the ponies was what aj)peared like ' gnats,' which you have informed me are a species of Phlebotomus . . . Bullocks and cows are bitten in the same manner at night. Ponies worked side by side with, and also standing by day in the same stable as affected ones, did not get the disease when taken about one or two miles apart, and stabled in non-infected stables at night." 10 according to Docri", i'\i-vy siinimcr fills the mililarv liospiluis in Sotifli I Iri-/.t'L:r.C., the actu.il identity of the three diseases is not yet established.* *' I'appataci fever," as the disease conveyed by Phlebototmus jntpaUisii is now known, is caused l)y an ultra-microscopic, "invisible" virus, which circulates in the blood during the first day of the fever, but ap])arently disa|)pears from the circulation by the end of the second day. It is significant that Doerr's investigations, so far as they have yet been carried, tend to show that a certain interval (about eight days) must elapse before a " Pappataci," which has sucked tlie blood of a j)atient suffering from the fever, becomes capable of conveying the infection to a healthy individual. f Owing to the small amount of material yet received by the Museum, it is at present impossible to say how many species of Phlebotomus occur in Africa. The existence of species in Uganda and Egypt has already been mentioned ; in the former case the species is perhaps Phlebotomus duboscqi, Neveu-Lemaire (Plate I., fig. 4), which, as stated below, was described from specimens obtained from the region of Timbuctoo, French Sudan, and has also been found in Ashanti and Southern Nigeria. The possil)ility that the Egyptian species is the South lairopean /-*//. jxqxiUisii, Scop., has been alluded to above, but in default of .specimens for comparison the question must for the moment remain undecided. * Cf. Lioutenant-Colonel C. Birt, "Exporiinontnl Investigation of ' Sim|)lo Oontinuod Fever,' " Journal of llic Ro>/al Armij Maikal Corpn, 1908, pp. .Itifl odtl. — Tlie mombere of tho Aiistriati cinninissiuii incline to the view that the disease investipates Dipteres piqueurs du grou])e des Simulio.s " : Comptes Rciultis HcbdomaJairc« di« Seances de V Academic des Sciences, T. C.\I>I 1 1., i)p. 519-521 (190G). 24 Congo, 1903-05, Dr. J. L. Todd writes :— " These flies were caught both near, and far from, water. They sometimes occur in swarms and are often found in houses. They bite freely, are persistent in their attacks, and when crushed emit a pecuhar ' bed-bug Hke ' odour."* The preKminary stages are passed in running Life-history. and usually in swiftly-flowing water, and the eggs are deposited in a compact layer or gelatinous mass on stones or plants close to the water's edge. The duration of the larval stage in African species has not yet been observed, but in those found in temperate climates this stage lasts for about four weeks in summer. In shape the larva is somewhat cylindrical, broadest posteriorly, where it is attached by means of a terminal sucker to a stone, the stem of a water-plant, a dead leaf or other object. The larva is able to shift its position by crawling in a looping fashion, attaching itself by means of a thoracic proleg situated on the ventral side close behind the head, but usually it remains in a more or less erect attitude. The head is strongly chitinised, brown or blackish in colour and almost quadrangular ; the body consists of twelve segments, from a narrow cleft on the dorsal surface of the last of which are protruded retractile, branched, tracheal gills. The larva feeds on algae, diatoms, and parts of phanerogamous plants, which are brought to the mouth by means of the currents set up by two broad, fan-like organs situated upon the head. In colour the larva varies according to the species, and perhaps also to some extent in accordance with its food, from deep shining black to yellow or dark green. When mature, the larva spins a silken cocoon, within which it pupates, and in which the fujm remains motionless, breathing by means of a pair of branched respiratory processes, which project from behind the head. About a week (in temperate climates at least) is occupied by the pupal stage, and then the perfect insect, making its escape through a rent in the back of the thorax, ascends to the surface in a bubble of air, * Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology, Series T.M., Vol. I.. No. I., p. 3(5 (February 1, 1007). not (luring the night. It will follow its unfortunaU! victim several miles back from the river and renders out-door work imposHible." In March, 1907, the life-history and habits of Simuliuin damnosum were studied at Abu Hamed by Mr. Harold H. King, Economic Entomologist to the Wellcome Research Laboratories, Gordon Memorial College, Khartoum, who, after describing the l)ionomics of the Nimitti {S. griseicollis, Becker),* writes as fojlowsf : — " A second and larger species of sandfly — Siinulium. (hnnnosum — occurs in the Sudan, in the vicinity of Abu Hamed, where it l)ears the name of Kilteh. " The larva (fig. 5) resembles in shape and general appearance the Nimitti larva, but can be distinguished from it by its relatively larger size and darker colour. A dark pigmented patch is usually present on either side of the first thoracic segment. " Length about 6 mm. " The yupa (fig. 7) is enclosed in a pocket-shaped cocoon, about 4 mm. in length, similar to that of the Nimitti pupa. The respiratory appendages consist each of a double comb of tubes which do not project much above the edge of the cocoon. " Life-history and habits. — The life-history of the Kilteb appears to be identical with that of the Nimitti. It has nevertheless been recorded from only one locality in the Sudan — viz., the neighbour- hood of Abu Hamed, where its larvae and pupae exist in the river in company with those of the Nimitti. " The adult females are exceedingly vicious blood-suckers, attacking chiefly the ankles and legs. Like the Nimitti, they are most active during the hours of sunset and sunrise. " The Kilteb do not swarm around the face, trying to crawl into the eyes and ears, but each fly, in a business-like way, settles on the spot it has selected, takes a short preliminary tour, patting the surface with its fore legs, and then, plunging its proboscis into the skin, commences to feed. In from two to three minutes it is fully * See below, pp. 32-34. t Loc. cit., pp. 208-209: Mr. King's observations are illustrated (Plate XXIII., figs. 3, 5, 7) with coloured figures of perfect insect, larva, and pupa 30 gorged, whereupon it flies heavily away, while a tiny trickle of blood flows from the puncture it has made. " These bites are exceedingly irritating, and in some cases produce considerable swelling. • ••••••• " Kilteb do not occur at Abu Hamed in very great numbers except during the winter, when the river is low." Simulium wellmanni, Roubaud. Bulletin du Museum d'Histoire Naturelle, T. XII., p. 519 (Paris, 1906.) Plate I., fig. 7. This small black species, with conspicuous patches of silvery- white hair on the sides of the abdominal segments, has hitherto been recorded only from Angola, whence the Museum possesses the type and two other females, taken in the large plain called " Bulu- Bulu," in Bihe, in April, 1905 {Dr. F. Creighton Wellman). The collector's field-note is as follows : — " Native name ' ohomono.' These tiny flies bite viciously, and are dreaded by naked porters. Their bite leaves a large raised wheal, with a small red spot in the centre, and itches for several days." Elsewhere, in a paper on " Some Angolan Insects of Economic or Pathologic Importance," Dr. Creighton Wellman writes with reference to S. wellmanni:— " This tiny fly is possibly one of the most successful destroyers of patience and provokers of profanity in the Colony. Natives near wet plains sometimes are compelled to move their kraals on account of it, and I have had to break camp to escape a swarm. It crawls down one's neck and up one's sleeves and bites viciously, leaving a tiny red wheal which itches furiously and does not disappear for some time."* * Cf. F. Creighton Wellman, Entomological iVet^Js, Vol. XIX., p. 227 (May, 1908).— The species is referred to in error as " Simulium damnosum, Theob." 31 Simulium griseicollis, Becker. Mitteilungen aits dem Zoologischen Museuin in Berlin, \\ . lid., .'{. Heft, ]). 7S (1903) : Second Report of the Wellcome Re.smrch Liiboratories i).s, Tahanu.H, and Ild'nuttopota a shining spot or rdlliis, tlic siiape and coloration of which alYoril usct'ul specific- characters. The males have an area in the np])er portion of the eyes, varying in extent according to the species, comiiosed of LiiLrci' facets than those heiow ; this dilTerence is as a iiile well-marked in the '!'al)anina>, hut is often less consj)icuous in species of Paugonin or Chrysops. In the li\ing insects the eyes of the majority of 'Pahanidic are singularly heaiitiful, heing often golden-green, coppery-green, hlue, or brilliantly metallic iridescent, marked with i)in'ple or brown hands or spots ; these eye-markings are of \aliie for the identification of sj)ecies, and arc especially brilliant in tlu^ case of females of Chrysops and /Itrni/ttopoUi, which, as remarked by Girschner,f " possess probably the finest eyes of all insects." After death, however, the colour of the eyes rapidly changes to a dull brown or brownish-black, until little or no trace of the markings re mains. J Fn all Tabanidai tiie three-jointed antennae, which in the genus Chrysops attain a considerable length, project conspicuously in front of the head. In Tdhdiius and Hmmatopoki the proboscis (labium), which contains the piercing mouth-parts, is soft and fleshy, of moderate length, terminated by a pair of laige and consjiicuous labella, and depends vertically beneath the head. In C/irysops the proboscis, which is still vertical, is more slender and often distinctly elongate ; while in Pangnyiin {sens, hit.) it is strongly chitinised, generally slender, and often hori/,ontal in position and remarkably long, sometimes even considerably exceedmg the body in length. The palpi, one of which can be seen on each side of the base of the proboscis, are two-jointed ; the terminal joint, which differs in shape in the two sexes, is usually swollen and fleshy in the * In certain species of C'hry.wps, c.t)., Ch. lotiyicorniti, Macq., and Ch. fu.irn. Ricardo, the eyes are narrowly separated above in the male. t Cf. E. Qirsclmer, Berliner Entomologische Zeitschrift, Bd. XXXI.. p. 150 (18S7). X III the figures ilhistrating this witrk the eyes are shown as seen in dried specimens, from which tlio drawings hati noco!*.sarily t reason encountered much more frequently than usual.* No observations as to enemies of Tabanidie appear yet to have been made in Africa, tliougli in other countries these insects are sometimes preyed upon by Robber-flies (Asilida^), as also by fossorial Wasps belonging to the family Bembecidic ; in the United States of America, as well as in Europe, parasitic Hymenoptera of the genus Plmnurus have been bred from egg-masses of species of Tahanus. Although Tahanus higuttatus, Wied., is the Life-history. only African species of which the metamorphoses have yet been studied,! observations made elsewhere upon the life-history of species of Chrysops, Tahanus, and Hcematopota show that in their different stages species belonging to these genera closely resemble one another in their various details ; and, in view of the uniformity in structure and habits of the perfect insects of this family throughout the world, it is not likely that the preliminary stages of African species of the genera mentioned are in any way exceptional. The metamorphoses of no species of Pangonia {sens, lat.) have yet been observed. The spindle-shaped, white, brown, or black eggs of Tabanidae are deposited closely packed in sub-conical, rounded, or flattened masses, attached to the leaves and stems of i^lants, or " other smooth surfaces," projecting from or overhanging water, or standing in wet or marshy ground. The larvce are cylindiical and tapering at each extremity, shining and glassy and more or less longitudinally striated, with a small retractile head, and a body consisting of eleven segments. In colour they are whitish, gre;yish or yellowish, often with darker markings. Of the eight abdominal segments, each of the first seven is encircled near its anterior margin with a ring of fleshy protuberances or false feet, consisting of a transverse * See p. 86. t ^f- PP- 89. 90. 40 dorsal ridge, which may exhibit a depression in the median hne partially dividing it into two, a rounded tubercle on each side, and four similar ventral ones. The last segment bears a terminal conical retractile prolongation, containing the stigmata or respiratory apertures in a vertical slit, while on the ventral side the anus is situate between a pair of prominent tumid lips, Tabanid larvse live in water, wet sand or mud, earth or decaying vegetable matter ; they are carnivorous, and prey upon snails, beetle-larvse, small Crustaceans, worms, etc. The pupa, which is not unlike that of a Lepidopterous insect, and in colour dull yellowish or some shade of brown, remains stationary, and is usually found in earth or damp rubbish at the edge of water. The thorax bears a pair of somewhat ear-shaped spiracular prominences ; each abdominal segment is encircled with a ring of slender spines on its distal tliird, and there are six sharp spines or teeth at the tip of the terminal segment. So far as present knowledge goes, there is no Tabanidae and reason to regard Tabanidse as regular carriers of Disease. any form of disease among human beings, although it is obvious that these flies, like any other blood- sucking Diptera, may occasionally convey pathogenic organisms, such as Trypanosoma gambiense or Bacillus anthracis* With respect to domestic animals, however, the matter would seem to rest on a somewhat different footing, for Tabanidae as a whole may be considered as pests of animals more than of human beings, and the relatively considerable amount of blood that many of these flies are able to imbibe, owing to their large size, obviously increases the risk of their sucking up micro-organisms from infected animals. It will be seen from the statements under the heading " Tahanus and * Dr. Arthur Pearson, P.M.O., Union Mini ere du Haut-Katanga, writing from Ruwe, Katanga District, Congo Free State, August 3rd, 1908 (Brit. Med. Journal, October 17th, 1908, p. 1218) on "Sleeping Sickness," says :—" With regard to the possibility that other biting flies, such as Tabanidre, may infect, to my mind one may point to the fact that, whereas these are apparently distributed all over the country, and for three months of the year are so plentiful as to be productive of very considerable discomfort even to a clothed European, the disease has confined itself strictly to the riparian population on those rivers where [Olossina] palpalis is found. Surely this evidence is very powerful ... I do not deny, of course, the possibility of infection when one of the Tabanidce, interrupted in its feed on an infected native, plunges its still wet {iroboscis into an uninfected man. But such cases must be very rare, judging from results." 11 disease," on jip 7<\ 71. lliat in Algeria llie brotiiers Sergent consider that tli(>y Juive proved expciiincnl.illy Ihat the species of T'dbanas wliieli are there most comiuoii aic al»lc lo transmit three forms of animal trypanosomiasis, hy biting a healthy animal immediately after having bitten one severely affected, and that in one instance a successful result was obtained with an interval of twenty-two hours between the bites. As regards immediate feeding, the results obtained by the Sergents are supported by those of Rogers in India, and Fraser and Symonds in the Federated Malay States, and it would seem highly desirable that experiments with Tabanidic and trypanosomiases of animals should be instituted in Britisii Colonies and Protectorates in Africa, in which the necessary conditions are present. The oft-repeated assertions by natives in various parts of Africa as to the responsibility of Tabanidae for sickness and mortality among their animals are referred to in the following pages, in the notes on Pangonia, Tahanus and Hcematopota, and elsewhere ; whether or not they are worthy of credence can only be shown satisfactorily by investigations on the spot. Subfamily PANGONIIN.^. Plate II., fig. 9— Plate V., fig. 33. The genera and species belonging to this subfamily are distinguished from those of the Tabaninse, as stated above, by the presence of a pair of, often conspicuous, spines or spurs at the tips of the hind tibiae, on the under side. The majority of the species of Pangoniinae belong to the genera Chrysops and Pangonia, but the subfamily is far less numerous in species than the Tabaninae. In addition to the genera Chrysops, Rhinomyza, Cadicera, and Pangonia (including Diatomineura), wliich are illustrated in this work, the following also occur in Africa : — Mycteromyia (?),* Pronopes, Hinea, * Except as regards throo species described by Bigot, two of whirh occur at the Cape of Good Hope, while the third is found in India, the genus Mycteromi/ia, so far as at present known, is confined to South America, and, before it can doiinitely be regarded as belonging to the African fauna, the types of Bigot's Soutli African and Indian species must be examined in order to see whotlior their generic position has been correctly determined. 42 Thriamheutes, and Silvius. Of these, Pronopes, Hinea, and Thriambeutes are African genera, each of which at present includes but a single species, while seven species of the widely distributed genus Silvius have been described as occurring in the Ethiopian Region. Recently the " subgenus " Subpangonia, Surcouf, has been described* for a new species, the type of which was taken in West Africa, near the frontier between French Congo and Cameroon. Genus CHRYSOPS, Meigen. Nouvelle classification des mouches a deux ailes (Diptera L.), p. 23 (1800) : Illiger's Magazin fur Insektenkunde, Bd. II., p. 267 (1803). Plate II., and Plate III., fig. 17. Some seventeen species of this widely-distributed and easily recognisable genus are at the present time known to occur in the Ethiopian Region. The African species of Chrysops are of medium size, not exceeding 10.5 mm. in length, and occasionally considerably smaller. In the majority of cases the wings exhibit a conspicuous black or dark brown band, running obliquely across the surface from the more or less infuscated costal border (Plate II., figs. 9-12, and Plate III., fig. 17) ; in Chrysops bicolor, Cordier (C. nigriflava, Austen, Plate II., fig. 14) the distal margin of the transverse band is less sharply defined, while in C. calida, Walk. (Plate II., fig. 16), the band is wanting ; in C. dimidiata, v. d. Wulp, and O. silacea, Austen (Plate II., figs. 13 and 14), rather more than the distal half of the wings is infuscated. In the resting position the wings are carried half open, that is with their tips more divergent than in the case of Tabanus. The presence of three ocelli on the crown of the head is characteristic of the genus, and the face and front exhibit shining tubercles or calli ; occasionally the first joint of the long antennae is conspicuously swollen (Plate II., figs. 14 * BuUetindu Museum National d' Histoire Naturelle, Ann^e 1908, p. 283 (Paris, 1908). and i(i). riic eyes, wliicli, as iin})licd by tlic generic name, are golden green in life, are marked with conspicuous purplish spots and streaks, presenting useful specific characters,* unfortunately indistinguishable in dried specimens. The females of the genus Chrysops attack human beings as well as domestic and other animals ; they are often extremely blood- thirsty, and are capable of inflicting a severe bite. With reference to Chrysops dimidiata, v. d. Wulp, and Oh. silacea, Austen, as met with by him in Southern Nigeria, Mr. G. C. Dudgeon, a competent observer, writes as follows f : — " The efifects from a bite of C. dimidiatus [Chrysops dimidiata, v. d. Wulp] were similar to a honey- bee's sting, causing a good deal of pain and inflammation, but from that of the red Chrysops [Ch. silacea, Austen] even more severe, with dropsical-like swelling of the limb and high temperature. My carriers appeared very much afraid of this insect, and hastily dropped their loads when one came near in order to arm themselves with branches to ward off its attack ; this they never troubled to do for other biting flies. Both species mentioned are somewhat similar to Syrphidce (Hover-flies) in appearance, and, as they also hover round the person they intend to attack, their flight is not unlike that of these flies." From the observations of Hart and Hine upon Life-history. North American species it would appear that the eggs are usually deposited upright in a single layer, '• forming an oval or diamond-shaped area," upon the leaves and stems of plants overhanging pools and small lakes. The eggs, wliich are wliite when first laid, gradually turn brown or black. The larvce live in water, mud, or the matted and sodden remains of aquatic vegetation. Both larva and pupa are of the usual Tabanid type. The larva may be distinguished from that of Tabamis by the last joint of the antenna being considerably longer than the preceding one, instead of the same length or much shorter, * Cf. V. A. E. Daecke's interesting paper, " On the Eye-Coloration of the Genus Chrysops": Entomological News, Vol. XVII., pp. 39-42, PI I. (190G). t Cf. G. C. Dudgeon, Journal of ■^Tropical Medicine, Vol, IX., p. 327, November 1, 1906). 44 Pupation apparently takes place as a rule in mud, moist earth, or damp sand close to the water's edge ; the pupa is distinguishable from that of Tabanus by the antennse projecting beyond, instead of not reaching the edge of the head, as also by certain differences in the margins of the spiracular prominences and in the length of the abdominal spines. Chrysops and No observations on this head have yet been Disease. recorded. Chrysops funebris, Austen. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Ser. 7, Vol. XX., p. 507 (1907). Plate II., fig. 9. This extremely dark-coloured species, in which the body is uniformly black, is at present represented in the Museum Collection by only five specimens, all of which are females. Of these, four are from the north-east side of Lake Edward, Uganda Protectorate, 1906 [Dr. A. D. P. Hodges), while the fifth specimen, which is also from Uganda, was taken on the shore of Lake Victoria, in Buddu, in 1903 {Sleeping Sickness Cofnmission of the Royal Society, per Colonel Sir David Bruce, G.B., R.A.M.C, F.R.S.). No information as to the bionomics of the species it at present available. Chrysops longicornis, Macquart. Memoires de la Societe royale des Sciences, de V Agriculture et des Arts de Lille, Annee 1838, 2ieme partie, p. 160 : Dipteres Exotiques, T. I., 1, p. 156, PI. 19, fig. 2 (1838). Plate II., fig. 10. Chrysops longicornis, of which C. tarsalis. Walker, and C. 45 trimaculatus, Bigot, are synonyms, is a West African species, wliicli appears to be fairly common in Sierra Leone and Ashanti. The Museum collection contains : a female from Sierra Leone, before 1842 [Rev. D. F. Morgan) ; a second female from Sierra Leone, 1893 {Surgeon-Captain W. G. Clements) ; five females from Freetown, and Regent, near Freetown, Sierra Leone, September 2nd and 13th, 1899 {E. E. Ansten) ; two females from Sierra Leone, August 12th, and October, 1904 {Major F. Smith, D.S.O., R.A.M.C.) ; three males and four females from Obuasi, Ashanti, June, 1906, and June 20th, September 8th and 21st, October, and November 13th, 1907, and one male and two females from Kumasi, Ashanti, October 22nd and 27th, 1907 {Dr. W .M.Graham, W.A.M.S.); and one female from Bonny, Southern Nigeria, May 23rd, 1900 {Dr. H. E. Annett). A pair of Dr. Graham's specimens from Kumasi were taken in coitil ; a male from Obuasi is labelled " caught on flower of composite plant " ; two females from Kumasi and Obuasi were captured in bush-paths, one on the under side of a leaf at 2.0 p.m. ; and three females from Obuasi were caught on a wdndow in a ward of a disused hospital (September and October, 1907). With regard to the behaviour of C. longicornis in Ashanti, Dr. Graham supplies the following note : — " This species hovers about one in shady bush-paths, and also hides under leaves, when it is difficidt to find ; I have never observed it bite anyone," Chrysops stigmaticalis, Loew. Of vers, af Kongl. Vetensk.—Alcad. Fnrhandl., XIV., 1857, p. 338 (1858) : Dipteren-Fauna Siidafrika's, p. 29, Taf. I., fig. 18 (1860). Plate II., fig. 11. So far as present knowledge goes, this species, originally described from Kaffraria, would appear to be purely South African. The material in the Museum consists of nine females, from the following 46 localities : — " Interior of South Africa," before 1843 {the Earl of Derby) ; Pietermaritzburg, Natal {R. S. Reece, presented by E. Warren) ; Pretoria, Transvaal {W. L. Distant), and the same locality, " on horse " {Dr. A. Theiler, G.M.G.) ; and Salisbury, Mashonaland, Southern Rhodesia, November, 1899, and March, 1900 (G^. ^. K. Marshall). Chrysops distinctipennis, Austen. Second Report of the Wellcome Research Laboratories at the Gordon Memorial College, Khartoum, p. 53, PL IV. (1906). Plate II., fig. 12. Care is necessary in order not to confuse this species with the foregoing, from which it may be distinguished by the paler coloration of the proximal two-thirds of the costal border of the wings, and the more slender first joint of the antennae. From a study of the material at present available it is evident that C. distinctipennis has a wide distribution in Tropical Africa, since on the western side of the continent it has been found in Gambia, Ashanti, Northern Nigeria, and French Congo, while it also occurs in Abyssinia and Uganda. The species is represented in the National Collection by seventeen females, the locaHties, etc., of which are as follows : — Bantonding, Upper Gambia, March, 1908 {Dr. T. Hood) ; Navarro, Northern Territories, Ashanti, July, 1907 {Dr. C. Le Fanu) ; Zungeru, Northern Nigeria, July 14th, 1905 {Dr. Dalziel) ; near Jangabu, above Bussa, R. Niger, N. Nigeria, November 26th, 1906 {Major G. B. Simonds, R.G.A.) ; Kontagora and Yelwa, Northern Nigeria, November 30th, 1906, and May 26th, 1907 {J. Brand) ; Busoga, Uganda, 1903 {Golonel Sir David Bruce, G.B., R.A.M.G., F.R.S.) ; Buruli, Uganda, 1903, " in patch of forest on Lukoge River, half-way between Junda and Kisiliza " {S. G. Tomkins) ; Wadelai, Uganda, November, 1904, " in swamp " {Gaptain E. D. W. Greig, I. M.S.) ; Albert Lake District, Uganda, 1905 {Dr. G. H. 47 Pooley). In addition to the foregoing the author has examined and deteiniined the following specimens of this species, belonging to the Museum National D'Histoire Natuicllc, Paris ; three females from French Congo, Haute-Alima, May, and " between Hanana and Boma, on man," November 15th {E. liouhaud), and one female from Lake Marguerite, Abyssinia, alt. 1120 metres, September 9th, 1907 {Dr. Latham). The specimen recorded above as taken near Jangabu, Northern Nigeria, by Major C. B. Simonds, bears the label : — " In swamp, 1.0 p.m., only specimen seen ; taken biting native ; bite caused much irritation." In Gambia, according to Dr. Hood, C. distinctipennis attacks horses. Chrysops dimidiata, v.d. Wulp. Notes from the Leyden Museum, Vol. VIT., p. 80 (1885) [Chrysops dimidiatus']. Plate II., fig. 13. A common and troublesome West African species, which has a wide range, including Cabinda (Portuguese West Africa, where the type was obtained), French Congo, Southern Nigeria, and Ashanti. The Museum collection comprises : — Five females from Ologbo, Southern Nigeria, May, 1906 {G. C. Dudgeon) ; one female from Ndogolai, Cross River, Southern Nigeria, 1908 {G. C. Dudgeon) ; twenty-two females from Akwete, Opobo River, Southern Nigeria, October, 1907 {Captain W. H. Best, W.A.M.S.); and six females from Obuasi, Ashanti, June 10th — July 15th, 1907 {Dr. W. M. Graham,W.A.M.S.). In Ashanti, according to Dr. Graham, Chrysops dimidiata " frequents verandahs and houses, is extremely bloodthirsty, bites readily, and is a great pest." According to Griinberg,* C. dimidiata * Cf. Dr. Karl Griinberg, " Die Blutsangenden Dipteren," p. 127 (Jena:Gustav Fischer, 1907). 48 is very common in Cameroon. Roubaud states* that in French Congo, where it bites man, and is known by the native names touna, itouna, and yembe, this species is extremely common and very widely distributed : it is absent during the dry season. Chrysops bicolor, Cordier. Bulletin de la Societe Entomologique de France, Annee 1907, p. 139 (1907). Syn. Chrysops nigriflava, Austen, Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Ser. 7, Vol. XX., p. 518 (1907). Plate II., fig 14, This remarkably handsome black and yellow species has hitherto been received only from German East Africa, whence the Museum possesses three females taken at Neguelo, in Usambara (purchased from H. Rolle). Other specimens from the same locality are in the collection of Professor Bezzi, of Turin, and two females (including the type of Chrysops bicolor, Cordier — a name which has priority over G. nigriflava, Austen), from Amani, German East Africa, t taken by Dr. J. Vosseler, in February, 1906, were forwarded to the Colonial Laboratory of the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, by the Director of the Museum of the Sencken- bergische Naturforschende Gesellschaft, of Frankfort-on-the-Main. Chrysops silacea, Austen. Annals and Magaziiie of Natural History, Ser. 7, Vol. XX., p. 509 (1907). Plate II., fig. 15. Chrysops silacea is a brightly coloured West African species, * Bulletin du Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Annee 1908, No. 5 (Paris, 1908). t Cordier {op. cit., p. 140) makes the misleading statement that Amani is "near Tombovictou." 41 » \vliich has hitlieiii) hecu met with in the Congo Free .State, and Southern and Northern Nigeria, so that its range overlaps that of Chrysops dimidiata, v.d. Wulp. The Museum eollection contains thirty-five females, from the following localities : — Congo Free State : Kimwenza, March 28th, 1904 ; Yakusu, September 15th, 1904 ; Kimwosa, Leopoldville, 1904 ; and N'Kussu, Cataract Region, November 25th, 1904 {the late Dr. J. E. Dutton, and Drs. J. L. Todd and G. Christy). Southern Nigeria : Old Calabar, April IGtli, 1892 {received from Sir Patrick Manson, K.C.M.O., F.R.8.) ; a second specimen from the same locality {the late Miss Mary H. Kingsley) ; Ohumbele, August 6th, 1900 {Dr. H. E. Annett); Odut and Uwet, May, 1906 {G. G. Dudgeon) ; Akwete, Opobo River, October, 1907 {Gaj)tain W . II. Best, W.A.M.S.) ; Arochuku, Bende, Cross River, June, 1908 {G. G. Dudgeon). Northern Nigeria : Sapele, -1906 {received from Dr. G. F. Darker) ; and Akwatcha, Bassa Province, July, 1906, and January and February, 1907 {Dr. G. J. Pirie). In the Congo Free State this species was met with by the members of the expedition of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (1903-5) " both near and at short distances from water," * while in one instance a specimen was caught in the house of a European. In Northern Nigeria Dr. Pirie found it numerous at Akwatcha in the dry season, and at Sapele it is stated by Dr. Darker to be troublesome to human beings. The severity of the bite inflicted by this species has already been referred to.f Chrysops calida, Walker. List of the Specimens of Dipterous Insects in the Collection of the British :\Iuseum, Part I., p. 205 (1848) [Chrysops calidus]. Plate II., fig. 16. At the present time the Museum is urgently in need of additional • Gf. Xewstead, Dutton and Todd, Annala of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology, Series T. M.. Vol. I., Xo. I., February 1, I'JUT, p. 43, wliere tlie species is referred to as ^'Chrysops dimidiatus, v.d. \\u1ij." t Sec p. 43. 50 specimens of this South African species, which is still represented in the National Collection only by the types of the male and. female. Although described so long ago as 1848, the species does not appear subsequently to have been met with, or at any rate recorded, by anyone, and since the types are merely labelled " S. Africa," with a number indicating that they formed part of a collection of South African insects " purchased from Argent," it is even uncertain whether they were obtained in Cape Colony or Natal. The third joint of the antennse being unfortunately missing in the types of both sexes, it has only been possible to indicate it in the figure. In coloration the two sexes are alike, except that the light stripes on the back of the thorax are less distinctly marked in the male. Chrysops brucei, Austen. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Ser. 7, Vol. XX., p. 513 (1907). Plate III., fig. 17. A thick-set, medium-sized, dusky species, which has hitherto been met with only in Uganda, and of which the Museum possesses seven females, from the following locaUties : — Kyadondo, 1903 {Colonel Sir David Bruce, G.B., R.A.M.G., F.R.8.) ; Singo, 1903 {Colonel Sir David Bruce); Busoga, March, 1906 {Dr. A. D. P. Hodges); and the Nile between Wadelai and Nimule, 1906 {the late Dr. W. A. Densham). With reference to the example obtained by him. Dr. Densham wrote : — " Only specimen seen ; taken at an opening in the swampy river edge." Genus RHINOMYZA, Wiedemann. Nova Dipterorum Genera, p. 8 (1820). Plate III., fig. 18. With the exception of Bhinomyza fusca, Wied., which occurs in Java, tli(' li\'(' (Irsciihrd species of this genus all Im-Iom^ lu Capu Colony. In the South Afiican species R. costntu, Lw., H. edentiih, Wied., anil A'. pitaiUa [Erudiorhynchas pu.iillus), Schin., tlio wings, instead of being conspicuonsly l>andcd \sith Iifoun as in A'. denticornis, Wicd. (riati- III., lig. 18), are hyaline or nearly so. Tn the case, however, of an at present nndescribed species of this genus, of which the Museum has recently received a single female, from the Benue River, Northern Nigeria, between liagana and Lokoja, March, 1007 [Dr. G. J. Pirie), the wings are marked in a very similar manner to that seen in R. denticornis. Nothing is known as to the life-history of any species of Rhino- myza. Dr. Pirie's field-note on the specimen presented by him is as follows : — " Caught on a sand-bank in the evening, while we were sitting out by lamp-light : bit a European." Rhinomyza denticornis, Wiedemann. Aussereuropaische zweifliigelige Insekten, I., p. ill (1828) \Sihnus denticornis]. Plate III., fig. 18. This handsome South African species is fairly well represented in the Museum Collection, which includes a series of three males and eighteen females, from Cape Colony, Natal, the Transvaal, and Southern Rhodesia. The details as to locaUties, etc., are as follows. Cape Colony : — One female from Knysna (/?. Trintcn). Natal : two males and one female from "Port Natal," 1855, 1857 {Gueinzius) ; two females from Durban (IT. /.. Pi.ttdnt) ; one female from Malvern, and three females from Karkloof, February, lsi»7 {G. A. K. Marshall) ; one female from Durban, January 10th, 1899, "caught in train to Pietermaritzburg " {f'nptain S. R. Christophers, I. M.S.). Transvaal : a female from .lohannesburg, 1905 {A. J. Chohnley) ; a male and female without precise locality. i: 2 52 1906 {A. J. CJiolmley) ; two females from Bloksberg, Johannesburg, 190T {C. H. Pead). Southern Rhodesia : one female from Sahsbury, Mashonaland, December, 1899 {G. A. K. Marshall). The locality of one female is unknoAvn. Genus CADICERA, Macquart. Memoires de la Societe Iin'periale des Sciences, de V Agriculture, et des Arts de Lille, Annee 1854, IP Serie.— P"^ Vol., p. 42 (1855) : Dipteres Exotiques, 5*^ Supplement, p. 22 (1855), Plate III., figs. 19-22. So far as at present known, this genus consists of eight species of dusky-winged flies, in which the head is characteristically flattened from front to rear, the proboscis more or less elongate, and the abdomen strongly convex above and, at least anteriorly, usually broad. With the exception of one species, which occurs in the Nyasaland Protectorate, the genus has hitherto been met with only in South Africa, No observations appear to have been made as to the habits or life-history of any of the species. Cadicera rubramarginata, Macquart. Memoires de la Societe Imperiale des Sciences, de V Agriculture, et des Arts de Lille, Annee 1854, IP Serie.— P"^ Vol., p. 43 (1855) : Dipteres Exotiques, 5« Supplement, p. 23, Tab. 1, Fig. 7 (1855). Plate III., fig. 19. Owing to its peculiar coloration and markings, Cadicera rubra- marginata, Macq., the type of the genus, is one of the most striking of all the Tabanidae. At present the species is represented in the Museum Collection only by a single female, from " South Africa," before 1844 [Dr. Andrew Smith). In all probability this specimen was obtained in Cape Colony, and Macquart's misleading Htatcincnl that the type of the species was " De I'Oceanie, cap des Aiguilles," is doubtless due to a confusion between Cape Agulhas,* the most southerly headland in Africa, and Aiguilles Point, off the coast of New Zealand. Cadicera melanopyga, Wiedemann. Zoologisches Magazin, Bd. I., Stiick III., p. 31 (1819) [Pangonia melcDiopyga] : Aussereuropaische zweifliigelige Insekten, I., p. 98 (1828) [Pangonia melanopyga]. Plate III., fig. 20. Of this species, which, Uke the foregoing, occurs in Cape Colony, the Museum possesses four specimens — one male (locality unknown) and three females : of the latter, one specimen was obtained in "South Africa," before 1844 {Dr. Andrew Smith) ; another, which bears no more precise indication of its origin than the word "Africa," was acquired by purchase in January, 1846 {ex Colonel WhitehilVs Collection) ; and the third was taken at Deelfontein, Cape Colony, on December 20th, 1902 {presented by Colonel A. T. Sloggett, C.M.G., R.A.M.C.). Cadicera chrysostigma, Wiedemann. Aussereuropaische zweifiiigeUge Insekten, I., p. 100 (1828) [Pangonia chrysostigma']. Plate III., fig. 21. This handsomely marked species, the type of which was obtained at the Cape of Good Hope, is represented in the Museum Collection * Agulha = needle (Portuguese). 54 by four females, of which two are without precise localities or other data, while the remaining two were obtained at Stellenbosch, Cape Colony, in December, 1862 {R. Trimen). In addition to the two patches of chrome-yellow hair on the upper side of the abdomen, the female exhibits two pairs of similar patches on the ventral surface. Cadicera quinquemaculata, Austen. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Ser. 8, Vol. I., p. 209 (1908). Plate III., fig. 22. Only two specimens, both females, of this prettily marked species have as yet been received by the Museum : of one of these the origin is unknown ; the other is from Pirie Bush, near King WiUiam's ToAvn, Cape Colony [A. N. Stenning). The banded tibiae are suffi- cient to distinguish C. quinquemaculata from all other species of the genus at present described. Genus PAN GO N I A, Latreille. Histoire Naturelle, Generale et Particuliere des Crustaces et des Insectes, T. III., p. 437 (1802) [Pangonius]. Plate III., fig. 23 — Plate V., fig. 34. The genus Pangonia, Latr., in its wider sense* includes some fifty described species which occur in the Ethiopian Region. Of * The genus is divided as follows : — Wings with first posterior cell closed : — Eyes bare . . Genus Pangonia, Latr. Eyes hairy . . „ ,, Subgenus Erephopsis, Rond. Wings with first posterior cell open : — Eyes hairy . . Genus Diatomineura, Rond. Eyes bare . . ,, ,, Subgenus Corizoneura, Rond. The subgenus Erephopsis occurs chiefly in Australia and South America; no species has yet been met with in Africa. 65 these, all, with the exception of P. barhata, Linn., and /'. ftdvifascia, Walk., — both of which are found in Cape Colony anfl belong to Diatomineura, Rond., sensu stricto (having hairy eyes and the first posterior cell in tiie wings open), — belong either to Pangonia, sensd stricto (in which the eyes are bare and the first posterior cell closed), or to the subgenus Corizoneura, Rond., of the genus Diatomineura, Rond., characterised by the eyes being bare and the first posterior cell open : the species of Corizoneura occur chiefly in South Africa. So far as it is possible to judge from the material at present received by the Museum, species of Pangonia would appear to be fairly common in Central, East, and South Africa (where Westermann long ago observed that Pangonia was more numerous than Tahanus), and rare in West Africa. It may be noted, however, that P. ril'ppellii, Jaenn., and a new and allied species have recently been met with in Northern Nigeria, while Surcouf has founded the subgenus Subpangonia for a species described by him from French Congo ; two specimens of a species apparently nearly akin to the latter, and characterised by the possession of a relatively short, thick, fleshy proboscis, with remarkably elongate labella, were taken at Obuasi, Ashanti, in June, 1907, by Dr. W. M. Graham. The slender, elongate proboscis, which is characteristic of the genus, varies greatly in length according to the species, from 2.5 mm. in the case of the little South African Pangonia {Corizoneura) directa, Walk., to 26 mm. (just over 1 inch) in the case of P. gulosa, Wied. (Plate IV., fig. 29), and 39 mm. (or rather more than 1| inch) in that of P. rostrata, L. ; in the two last-mentioned species, both of which, like P. directa, occur in Cape Colony, the proboscis is much longer than the body. If a number of specimens of any species but one with a relatively short proboscis be examined, it will generally be found that the proboscis varies in length in different individuals. In a paper on Brasilian Tabanidaj, Dr. Lutz has pointed out that this is due to the fact that the labium is protrusible and retractile, the base, when the labium is retracted, being spirally coiled within the buccal cavity ; f this condition is found in all t CI. Dr. Adolpho Lutz. " Reitraego zur Kenntniss dor hrasilianisehenTabnniden . " Revista da Sociedade Scientifica de Sao I'aulo, No. 1, p. 24 (June, 1905). 56 species in which the face is conically produced, although the facial prolongation does not serve to accommodate the basal portion of the proboscis when retracted. Lutz considers that the possession of a very long protrusible proboscis points to a liquid diet other than blood, and from his own observations he doubts whether species in which such an organ exists bite and suck blood on the wing. As is mentioned below in the notes on Pangonia angulata, Fabr., and P. gulosa, Wied. (pp. 61, 62), according to Westermann, P. rostrata, Linn., in which the proboscis attains so remarkable a length, is one of the species most troublesome to domestic animals at the Cape, though owing to the length of the proboscis, it can only bite when on the wing. It is significant, however, that Westermann adds : — " Nevertheless this Pangonia appears to prefer to suck the nectar of flowers rather than blood, since I frequently found it on the blossoms of different species of Pelargonium : other kinds of Pangonia, on the contrary, I never met with on plants." In species such as P. rostrata and P. gulosa, the proboscis when fully or even partially extended greatly exceeds the piercing stilets in length, and this in itself would obviously offer a mechanical obstacle to the piercing of the skin of a mammal by these flies ; it is possible that when such flies appear to be attacking animals they are merely sucking up the blood flowing from wounds caused by other Tabanidae, and this suggestion may perhaps afford the explanation of Westermann's remark that, whenever he observed P. rostrata round domestic animals, the latter " were in many places quite red owing to the blood that streamed from the wounds caused by the flies." Whatever be the case, however, with regard to species in which the proboscis is exceptionally long, it would appear that others, at any rate occasionally, bite and suck blood on the wing. Thus, a specimen of the new species near P. ruppellii, Jaenn., already alluded to, from South Bornu, Northern Nigeria, September, 1907 {Dr. H. A. Foy), bears the label : — " Attacking horse ; sucked blood on the wing without settling, and darted away after feeding." The females of the majority of species of Pangonia are extremely blood-thirsty, and, while sometimes molesting human beings, are especial pests of domestic animals, which they often attack in large r,7 numbers. Dr. R. E. Drakc-l^rocknuin, writing I'loin (^anioji, ncai- Slioikh Hussein, Arussi Country, Galla Land, Nortli-East Africa, on October 16th, 1908, with reference to Pangonia {Corizoneura) distincta, Ricardo, stated that the flies were " in hundreds, and a source of great annoyance to camels, horses, and mules." In a subsequent communication, with reference to his recent journey through the eastern and south-eastern parts of Abyssinia and the north-eastern corner of British East Africa, Dr. Drake-Brockman \\Tites that this species " was to be seen in hundreds all over the undulating valley known as Gamoji, through which flows the river Wabi, and even up the slopes of Mt. Abul Kassim to its very summit 9000 ft. high, — Mt. Abul Kassim standing in the middle of Gamoji." " Owing to the presence of these flies in such trouble- some numbers," continues Dr. Drake-Brockman, " this country is practically devoid of native villages at this time of the year. The bush seemed alive with them, but although they came hovering around human beings I did not hear of anyone being bitten by them, while on the other hand the unfortunate camels, ponies, mules, and cattle were so molested by their attentions during the heat of the day that they gave up all idea of grazing. The female alone attacks animals, the male obtaining necessary nourishment from the nectar of the wild flowers, which were plentiful in this locality in the month of October, following the rainy season. The flies commence operations about 10.0 a.m., when the sun is high, and only continue to annoy while it is shining ; if the sun be masked by clouds for even a short interval they slacken their attentions, and they cease to bite altogether if the day be cloudy. Animals armoyed by them crowd together for protection, seeking the shade of the smallest bush or tree. Tliis species, together with other members of the same family, is known to the Somalis by the name of ' Dug.' They do not consider its bite dangerous to their stock, but they avoid the stretches of country frequented by it, since the animals, instead of grazing, spend their time in keeping the flies off and in consequence lose flesh rapidly." Species of Pangonia, hke other Tabanidae, sometimes follow game ; thus, specimens of P. oldii, Austen (a species closely allied to P. zonula, 58 Walk., — Plate IV., fig. 25), from the vicinity of Mpimbi, Upper Shire River, 20 miles west of Zomba, Nyasaland Protectorate, taken by a native in May, 1905, and presented by Major F. B. Pearce, C.M.G., were labelled : — " In large numbers, following the nswala antelope " [Aepyceros melampus]. Dr. J. E. S. Old, who on another occasion was himself attacked by P. oldii, wrote that it " makes a loud humming noise, resembUng that of a large bee, and on alighting immediately thrusts its long proboscis through the skin." In a recently published paper Dr. Old stated that " Pango7iia hovers for a few seconds, alights, and then deliberately punctures, like a needle, with its extraordinary proboscis."* As to native African names of Pangonia, in the Nyasaland Protectorate, according to Dr. Old, specimens belonging to the genus are apparently known to the Angoni as " Chimbu," to the Ankondi as " Mbwari," and to the Ahenga as " Nimbu." So far as can be ascertained, no observations Life-history, have yet been made as to the Ufe-liistory of any species of Pangonia. Although in parts of the Anglo-Eg3rptian Pangonia Sudan, such as the Red Sea Province, Pangonia and Disease, fnagrettii, Bezzi, and P. rUppellii, Jaenn., are said to be connected by natives with sickness and mortality among cattle and camels, while on one occasion in New Caledonia a species of this genus is stated to have been concerned, with Stomoxys calcitrans, in the dissemination of an epidemic of anthrax, it has not yet been proved or even seriously suggested that any species of Pangonia is the regular transmitter of any micro-organism pathogenic to animals or man. * Gf. J. E. S. Old, M.D.Brux., " Contribution to the Study of Trypanosomiasis and to the Geographical Distribution of Some of the Blood-Sucking Insects, Etc." : Journal of Trojncal Medicine and Hygiene, Vol. XII., No. 2, p. 20 (January 15 1909). ')9 Pangonia sexfasciata, Walker. List of the Specimens of Dipterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum, Part I., p. 136 (1848). Plate III., fig. 23. The type of this species, from wliich the figure has been prepared, is still the only representative in the National Collection. It was purchased at the sale of the Children Collection in 1840, and, although without precise data, is probably from Cape Colony. Pangonia elongata, Ricardo. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Ser 8, Vol. I., p. 54 (1908). Plate III., fig. 24. Of this species the Museum possesses the type and one other female, both from Kilima-Njaro, German East Africa {Bishop Hannington). Although somewhat resembling Pangonia sexfasciata, Walk., in abdominal markings and general appearance, P. elongata can at once be distinguished by its smaller size and the dark tips to its wings. Pangonia zonata, Walker. The Entomologist, Vol. V., p. 256 (1871). Plate IV., fig. 25. Pangonia zonata. Walk., which is closely allied to the somewhat larger and darker P. oldii, Austen, of the Nyasaland Protectorate, would appear to be a common species in Somaliland, while it also occurs in Portuguese East Africa. The following are the details 60 with regard to the fourteen females by which the species is at present represented in the Museum Collection : — French Somaliland : six specimens, including the type, from Tajurrah (J. K. Lord). British Somaliland: two specimens from Guban, 1000 ft., May 10th, 1905, and five without precise locality {Dr. R. E. Drake- Br ockman). Portuguese East Africa : one specimen without further data, 1908 {Dr. W. Woolliscroft). Although the latter specimen is not quite typical, I do not think that there can be any doubt as to its specific identity. Mr. Lord's note with reference to this species, as met with by him at Tajurrah, is to the effect that it is " abundant, and very tormenting to cattle " ; while Dr. Drake-Brockman states that at Guban it " bites horses, mules, cattle, and camels." Pangonia adjuncta, Walker. List of the Specimens of Dipterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum, Part I., p. 135 (1848). Plate IV., pig. 26. The type, from which the figure was prepared, and one other female are the only examples of this species in the Museum. Both specimens were purchased at the sale of the Children Collection, in 1840, and are probably from Cape Colony, although precise data are lacking. Pangonia angulata, Fabricius. Systema Anthatorum, p. 91 (1805). Plate IV., fig. 27. Of this species, the type of which was collected at the Cape of Good Hope more than a hundred years ago, the Museum possesses a male from Simon's Town, Cape of Good Hope, November, 1802 {P. de la Garde, R.N.), and one female, also from Cape Colony {ex Saunders Collection). Pangonia angulatn, Fabr., of which Tanyglossa cingulata, Tluinb., is a synonym, presents a deceptive resemblance to P. conjuncta, Walk. (p. 64, Plate V., fig. 33) : the two species may, however, be distinguished by the line of median triangular spots on the abdomen of P. conjuncta (there being no white hairs in the centre of the hind margins of the third and fourth abdominal segments in P. angulata, at any rate in the female), by the colour of the light hair on the dorsum of the thorax, which is shorter and more golden-yellow in P. angulata, longer and paler in P. conjuncta, by the hair on the under side of the head in the latter species being white instead of maize-yellow, and by the head of the male being broader in P. conjuncta than in P. angulata. Westermann,* Avriting of insects at the Cape of Good Hope nearly ninety years ago, stated that, while several species of Pangonia were very common, domestic animals were tormented especially by P. angidata, P. rostrata, Linn., and P. (Corizoneura) lateralis, Fabr., and that the latter species and P. angulata were cunning enough to select spots where their unfortunate victims were unable to reach them, either with head or tail. It may be added that, in Westermann's experience, species of the genus Tdbanus appeared to be rare at the Cape, and were not troublesome to animals. Pangonia compacta, Austen. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Ser, 8, Vol. I., p. 212 (1908). Plate IV., fig. 28. In its typical form this species has as yet been met vnW\ only in Southern Rhodesia, whence the Museum has received the type and jfive other females, all of which were taken at Salisbury, Mashonaland, in March, 1900, and April, November, and December, 1899 {G. A. * Germar's Magazin der Entomologie, Bd. IV., p. 427 (1821). 62 K. Marshall). In the form of the subspecies centralis {Pangonia compacta centralis, Austen, Annals and Magazine of Natural History, loc. cit., p. 214), however, which differs from the typical race inter alia in its diminutive size (not exceeding 12 mm, in length) and darker wings, P. compacta also occurs in the Nyasaland Protectorate, where it was encountered in some numbers on the Samulu stream, near Chibwano's, Chikala, on March 29th, 1906, by Dr. J. E. S. Old. From this locality the Museum possesses seven specimens (including the type of the subspecies), all of which were collected by Dr. Old, whose field-note is as follows : — " Numerous only near the bank, in the heat of the day ; flight rapid, with humming sound much like that ordinarily associated with large common flies. Several were found together in spots only ; they rushed at once to the ankles and legs, and inserted the long proboscis. Vegetation — both short and long grass (1 to 5 feet), scrub, and Ficus trees in the neighbour- hood, and low green trees fairly thick on the banks." Pangonia gulosa, Wiedemann. Aussereuropaische zweifliigeHge Insekten, I., p. 99 (1828). Plate IV., fig. 29. Pangonia gulosa, Wied., which was described from a female from the Cape of Good Hope, and belongs to the group of South African species in which the proboscis exceeds the body in length, is represented in the National Collection by a single female from Stellenbosch, Cape Colony {R. Trimen). No observations have yet been made on the habits of P. gulosa, but they are doubtless similar to those of the South African P. rostrata, Linn., in which the pro- boscis is sometimes even longer, and with regard to which Wester- mann* writes : — " P. rostrata (Tabanus rostr. Linn.) on account of the length of its proboscis is incapable of biting animals sitting, but can only do so on the wing ; it must however bite very severely, since * Loc. cit. whenever I observed it round domestic animals the poor creatures were in many places quite red owing to the hlood that streamed from the wounds caused by the flies. Nevertheless this Pangonia appears to prefer to suck the nectar of flowers rather than l)lood, since I frequently found it on the blossoms of dilTerent species of Pelargonium : other kinds of Pangonia, on the contrary, I never met with on plants." Pangonia beckeri, Bczzi. Bullettino Delia Societd Entomologica ItaUana, Anno XXXIII., p. 10 (1901) : Pangonia tricolor, Austen {nomen bis lectum), Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 1900, p. 7, PI. I., fig. 8. Plate V., fig. 32. This handsome species has not hitherto been met with outside Somaliland, where however it would appear to be locally common and a plague to animals. In 1894 Captain (now Colonel) H. G. C. Swayne, R.E., when passing through Ogaden to the Webi Shebeli, was much pestered by this fly and an unidentified species of Pangonia, which swarmed on his camels and constantly drew blood.* According to Colonel Swayne, P. beckeri and the unkno^^^l species are called "Doog" by the Somalis,t who wiU not allow their live-stock to graze in places frequented by these flies and Tabanus morsitans, Ricardo, a small but extremely bloodthirsty species, known to the natives as " Balaad." The ten specimens of Pangonia beckeri in the Museum Collection include : — One female (the type of P. tricolor, Austen, nee Walker) from Bun FeroU, north of the Webi ShebeU, West Somaliland, June, 1895, "biting man and animals" (C V. A. Peel); eight females from Bohodle, British Somaliland, 1903 {Veterinary- Major Appleton, A.V.D.) ; and one female from Cuban, British Somaliland, * Of. Austen. "A Monograph of the Tsetse-Flies " (1903), p. 307, and note. t Of. p. 57. 64 May 12th, 1905 {Dr. R. E. Drake-Brockman) . The collector and donor of the last-mentioned specimen writes that the species " bites camels, horses, mules, and cattle." Pangonia conjuncta, Walker. List of the Specimens of Dipterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum, Part I., p. 135 (1848). Plate V., fig. 33. The deceptive resemblance between this South African species and Pangonia angulata, Fabr. (Plate IV., fig. 27), has already been dealt with (see p. 61). Of P. conjuncta, Walk., of which P. obesa, Walk., is a synonym, the Museum possesses three males and six females, including : — Two males (one of which is the type of the species) and three females, from " South Africa," before 1844 {Dr. Andrew S?nith) ; one female from the " Cape of Good Hope " {ex Vigors Collection), and another (the type of P. obesa, Walk.) from the same locality {ex Saunders Collection, collected by Drege) ; and one male and one female from Simon's Town, Cape Colony, October, 1894, and November, 1892 (P. de la Garde, R.N.). Pangonia riippellii, Jaennicke. Abhandlungen herausgegeben von der Senckenbergischen naturfor- schenden Oesellschaft, Bd. VI., p. 329 (1867). Plate V., fig. 34. The distribution of this brightly-marked species is exceedingly wide, since in addition to Abyssinia, where the type was obtained, P. riippellii is known to occur in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, the East Africa Protectorate (British East Africa), and Northern Nigeria ; while if, as seems possible, P. magrettii, Bezzi, is merely a dark form or subspecies of P. riippellii, Jaenn., the range of the species also includes Somaliland and Eritrea. At the present time 65 P. riippellii is represented in llie National Collection by: — Three females from Sam burn, Kast Africa Protectorate, October 30th to November 2()th, 1S!)() (C. S. Betton) ; six females caught twenty miles south of Kassala, Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, August, 1899 {Bimbashi H. H. S. Movant) ; one female from the Blue Nile, Anglo- Egyptian Sudan, 1905 {received from Dr. Andrew Balfour) ; and one female from Northern Nigeria, 1908 {Dr. H. P. Lohh — presented by the London School of Tropical Medicine). Pangonia (Diatomineura) suavis,* Locw. Ofvers. af Kongl. Vetensk.-Akad. FUrhandL, XIV., 1857, p. 337 (1858) : Dipteren-Fauna Siidafrika's, p. 17 (1860). Plate IV., fig. 30. Of this handsome South African species, which was originally described from Kaffraria, Cape Colony, the Museum as yet possesses only two females, both of which were taken at Potchefstroom, in the Transvaal, in 1895 {H. P. Thomasset). Pangonia (Diatomineura) brunnipennis,t Locw. Ofvers. af Kongl. Vetensk.-Akad. Forhandl., XIV., 1857, p. 337 (1858) : Dipteren-Fauna Siidafrika's, p. 18 (1860). Plate IV., fig. 31, Like the last, this species also belongs to South Africa, was originally described from Kaffraria, Cape Colony, and is at present represented in the Museum Collection by only two female specimens, which however in this instance were taken at " Port Natal," in 1855 and 1857 {Gueinzius). * Owing to the first i)ostcriQr cell in the wings of this and the following species (P. brunnipennis, Lw.) being open, the two species strictly belong to the genus Diatomineura, Rond., and since the eyes are bare, to the subgenus Corizoneura, Rond. t See previous note. CHAPTER V. Family TABANID.5] (continued). Subfamily TABANIN^. Plate V., fig. 35 — Plate XII., fig. 95. In this subfamily, as in the Tabanidse as a whole, the vast majority of species belong to the genus Tahanus. Besides Tahanus, Hcematojjota, and Hippocentrum, species of which are illustrated in the plates mentioned above, the only genera of Tabaninse at present known to occur in the Ethiopian Region are Thaumastocera, Holcoceria, and Parhcematopota, which were described in 1906 by Dr. K. Griinberg,* and still consist of single species. The genus Thaumastocera, which is nearly related to the South American Stihasoma, Schin., was founded for Thaumastocera ahva, Griinb., a West African species, with a remarkably shaped third antennal joint, well-developed ocelli, and wings blotched and spotted with black or clove-brown ; the third joint of the antenna has, at least in the female, two deep notches in its upper margin, while in both sexes the basal angle is produced into a long process reaching to the level of the penultimate annulus. Holcoceria nohilis, Griinb., the type of the genus Holcoceria, which is allied to Hcejnatopota, is a black, elongate species, the type of which was taken at Langenburg, on the north-eastern shore of Lake Nyasa (German East Africa) ; it is 15.5 mm. in length, with long and stout antennae, a white stripe on each side of the dorsum of the thorax, and deep black wings, with a small, pale, transverse streak at the tip. Parhcematopota (for P. cognata, Griinb., — German East Africa and Zanzibar) was separated by its author from Hcematopota owing to the shape of the first and third joints of the antennae, but it is doubtful whether these characters are sufficient to warrant a generic distinction. * Gf. K. Griinberg, " Einige neuen Tabanidengattungen des athiopischen Faunen- gebiets " : Zoologischer Anzeiger, XXX. Bd., pp. 349-362, with 13 figures in text. C7 Genus TABANUS Linnjcus. Fauna Suecica, p. 402 (ITOI). In West Africa know n as " Mangrove-flies " ; elsciwiiere sometimes called " Hippo-flies," and in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan termed "Seroots," or " Seruts." Plate V., fig. 35 — Plate XI., fig. 83. Wlien due allowance has been made for recognised synonyms, and after deducting forms belonging to the Mediterranean Subregion, the described African species of Tahanus at present number about one hundred and twenty, forty-eight of which are figured in this work. While there can be no doubt that many new species have still to be discovered and described, it is also possible that further researches may show that some of the names attached to species included in the total mentioned are but synonyms. Owing to the faultiness of many of the older descriptions, the paucity of plastic characters, and the fact that the body-markings are for the most part composed of fine hairs which are peculiarly liable to be rubbed off, whereby the appearance of specimens becomes much altered, it is often a matter of great difficulty to decide whether a given species of Tahanus has or has not been already described. This applies Avith especial force to species belonging to the T. secedens group (Plate VII., figs. 54, 55, and Plate VIII., fig. 57) and certain other groups of nearly allied and more or less obscurely marked forms ; species with conspicuous wing-markings, such as are exhibited by T. jasciatus and its allies (Plate V., fig. 30. and Plate VI., figs. 40-43), are comparatively easy to identify. Wiien distinguishing species or endeavouring to assign a number of doubtful specimens to their proper species, special attention should always be paid to the few plastic characters available. 'I'he most important of these, which are situated ujion the head, are tlie width and shape of the front (i.e.. the space between the eyes in the female), the form of the frontal callus, and the shape of the terminal 1 -2 68 joint of the antennae and palpi ; it should be noted, however, that the appearance of the latter is somewhat variable, and depends to some extent upon the direction from which the palpi are viewed. The eyes, which in life are often green, bronze-green, or blue, are frequently marked with dark purplish, horizontal bands, which vary in different species, and thus afford useful distinctive characters ; as already mentioned, however, the markings and original coloration of the eyes rapidly disappear after death, and are usually entirely indistinguishable in dried specimens. With the exception of South Africa, where they do not seem to be common,* species of Tabanus are to be found in most parts of Africa ; in many localities the individuals of certain species are often exceedingly abundant, and a pest to domestic and other animals, besides frequently attacking man. It may be remarked that collections made in previously unexplored localities, though usually including several species of Tabanus, do not necessarily result in the discovery of new forms, since many species of this genus, such as T. tceniola, Pal. de Beauv, (Plate VIII., fig. 61), and T. par, Walk. (Plate V., fig. 39), have an exceedingly wide distribution ; thus, more than one species originally described from a specimen from Cape Colony or Natal has recently been received from Northern Nigeria or the Bahr-el- Ghazal, while T. ditceniatus, Macq. (Plate XI., fig. 82), besides occurring throughout the greater part of Africa, is also met with so far away as North China. On the West African rivers, where they are often called Mangrove-flies by Englishmen and English- speaking natives, several species of Tabanus occur. Writing from personal observation and experience in Northern and Southern Nigeria, Mr. G. C. Dudgeon saysf : — " Tabanus is a genus which is represented by a large number of well-marked species on the River Niger and tributaries, as well as the other rivers along the coast. The approach of a Tabanus is made known by its loud buzzing, * See p. 61. — Notes on Pangonia angulata, Fabr. t Of. G. C. Dudgeon, " Occurrence and Habits of Some Species of Human Biting Flies belonging to the families Tabanidm and Muscidce (Olossina). from the West Coast of Africa": Journal of Tropical Medicine, Vol. IX., No. 21, p. 327 (November 1, 1906). but the attack is not usually made by tli(^ insect at tlu; ])oinl uj>(>n which it at first settles. In one case I witnessed Tabanus teata- ceiventris, Macq.* alight upon the back of a native at the wheel of a steam launch in which 1 was travelling, and, although it crawled over the man's bare flesh for some time, it did not attempt to bite until it had reached the outside of a vest which he wore, when it tried to drive its proboscis through tiie material in ordti- t\ the absence of a dark brown transverse band running across the proximal ex- tremity of the discal coll. 7'. qnadrigutUdus is at present represented in the National Collection by a single female (the type of the species) from Nguele, Usambara (south-east shore of Lake Victoria), German East Africa {received jroyn Dr. Krober). According to Surcouf and Roubaud, this species also occurs in French Congo, where it is " very common at Brazzaville at the commencement of the wet season, bites cattle, and even enters houses." * Tabanus marmoratus, Surcouf. (The description of this species has not yet been published, 5, VII., 1909.) Plate VII., fig. 52. The figure of this West African species, which was prepared from the type,t the only specimen available when the drawing was made, is unfortunately a good deal too red as regards the anterior portion of the body. The examination of a well-preserved female of T. marmoratus recently received shows that the actual colour of the dorsum of the thorax is slate-grey, and that of the hair on the posterior angles white ; as regards the abdomen, the first segment is grey, with wliitish hairs on the hind border, the second clove- brown, mth a deeper posterior border of wliitish hairs ; the re- mainder is black, with median triangles clothed -with silvery hair on the hind margins of the third, fourth, and fifth segments (the triangle on the fourth segment being the largest), and a narrow band of similar hair on the hind margin of the fourth segment. The soUtary specimen of T. marmoratus in the Museum is a female from Obuasi, Ashanti, May 27th, 1907, " caught in house " {Dr. W. M. Graham, W.A.M.8.). * Of. Surcouf and Roubaud, Bulletin du Museum National (VHiatoire Naturellr, Ann^e 1908, No. 5 (Paris, 1908). ■j- Kindly lent by tho authorities of the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris. 96 Tabanus billingtoni, Newstead. Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology, Series T. M., Vol, I., No. I., p. 46, PI. III., fig. 1, and PI. IV., figs. 10-12 (1907). Plate VII., fig. 53. Although almost identical as regards the pattern of the wing- markings, the present species can easily be distinguished from the foregoing by the abdominal characters, including the yellow base, narrow yellow bands, and absence of median dorsal triangles. Des- cribed from specimens collected in the Congo Free State, during the expedition of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine to the Congo, 1903-05, the only other country from which Tabanus hillingtoni has yet been received is Southern Nigeria. The locaHties, etc., of the eight females in the National Collection are as follows. — Congo Free State : Bolengi, Upper Congo, July, 1903 {Dr. E. A. Lay ton) ; Baptist Missionary Station, Tshumbiri, near Leopold- ville, 1904 {Rev. and Mrs. Billington); Lopori River, Upper Congo, October, 1907 {Rev. W. D. Armstrong). Southern Nigeria : Ologbo, May, 1906 {G. G. Dudgeon). Tabanus secedens, Walker. List of the Specimens of Dipterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum, Part V., Supplement I., p. 224 (1854), — for Tabanus tibialis, Walker {nee Macquart), op. cit., Part I., p. 162 (1848) {nomen bis ledum). Plate VII., fig. 54. This species, of which Tabanus gabonensis {garonensis), Macq., is a synonym,* is somewhat variable in appearance according as * 'J'ahanna hlancJiardi, Siircoiif {Archives de Parasitologic, T. XI., p. 473, PI. IX., figs. 3, 4 (1907), and T. brunnfsci'ns, Ricardo (Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Ser. 8, Vol. I., p. 322 (1908)), are also synonyms of T. secedens. Walker. 97 the narrow median trianfj;loa on the ahdomcn remain fairly diBtinct, or are merged in a more or less uniform, continuous stripe. Tabanu8 secedens is also subject to considerable variation in size, as shown by the fifty-eight females in the Museum Collection, whicli vary m length from 15 mm. (wing-expanse 31 mm.) to 21 mm. (wing- expanse 39.5 mm.). The species is extremely common in many parts of West Africa, and its range is known to extend from Senegal to the Congo Free State and Uganda. The following are the localities, etc., of the specimens at present in the Museum. — Sierra Leone : Moyamba, September, 1906 (J. A. G. Fido) ; Sierra Leone Protec- torate, 1905, " caught in native hut " {Major W. H. Grattan, R.A.M.G.) ; Karina District, Sierra Leone Protectorate, October- November, 1906 {Dr. H. E. Arbuckle, W.A.M.S.). Liberia: Bafu Bay, January, 1909, and Sinu, April 20th, 1909 {Surgeon A. McCloy, R.N.). Gold Coast: exact locality unknown, 1882 {Captains Burton and Cameron) ; Dunkwa, September 25th, 1905 {Dr. McGonnell). Ashanti : Obuasi, March 6th, 1906, " in house on window," and May 20th, 1906; "caught in carriages on Gold Coast Government Rail- way," June 14th, 1906, and May 23rd and September 6th, 1907, and Huni Valley, May 1st, 1908 {Dr. W. M. Graham, W.A.M.S.). Nortiiern Nigeria: Kaduna River, near Mureji, June 22nd, 1906 {W . F. Goioers) ; exact locality unkno"vvn, 1907 {G. C. Dudgeon). Soutliern Nigeria : Lagos, 1899, 1906 {Dr. W. H. W . Strachan, C.M.G.) ; Cross River and Old Calabar, 1894-95 {the late Miss Mary H. Kingsley) ; Asaba, R. Niger, 1895 {the late Dr. W . H. Crosse) ; Forcados River, June 18th, 1904 {W. F. Goivers); Odut and Ologbo, May, 1906, and Itu, Cross River, May and June, 1908 {G. C. Dudgeon) ; Calabar, April, 1907 {Major F. B. W. Sampson). Congo Free State : Bolengi, Upper Congo, July, 1903 {Dr. E. A. Layton) ; Congo River, below Basoko, alt. 1400 feet, November, 1906 [Ruivenzori Expedition) ; Lopori River, Upper Congo, October, 1 007 {Rev. W. D. Armstrong). Uganda: Bulamwezi, 1903, from bank of stream {Colonel Sir David Bruce, C.B., R.A.M.G. , F.R.S.); south end of Lake Albert, October, 1904, and Niniule and Gondokoro, November, 1904 {Captain E. D. W. Greig, I. M.S.). With reference to this species as observed by him in Ashanti, 98 Dr. W. M. Graham has kindly supphed the following note : — " Tahanus secedens is common in Ashanti, and is very frequently met with in the carriages on the Gold Coast Government Railway. Hundreds of flies belonging to this species sometimes follow a herd of cattle on the Cape Coast road, making a loud whizzing noise like a wind, which can be heard for some distance. T. secedens also attacks man, and in the month of December, if a clearing be made by the roadside and a tent pitched, the tent will be invaded by numbers of this fly." In the Congo Free State, most of the specimens of T. secedens obtained by the members of the expedition of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine were caught on the rivers, in steamers and canoes.* The members of the French Expedition to French Congo for the Study of Sleeping Sickness met with several males of this species drinking on the ground. Writing of T. secedens as it occurs in French Congo, M. Roubaud says : " The females come round houses, and seek to attack cattle. This is the commonest Tahanus at BrazzaviUe, where it is found from the end of September until November. It is very common all along the banks of the Alima, in marshy forests, and districts in which big game occurs, where it would seem to feed especially on the buffalo. It appears to exist throughout the entire course of the Ubangi ; it attacks natives in canoes." t Tahanus kingsleyi, Ricardo. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Series 8, Vol. L, p. 318 (1908). Plate VII., fig. 55. Although not unlike small specimens of the foregoing species, Tahanus kingsleyi, Ricardo, may be distinguished by the greater * Cf. Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology, Series T.M., Vol. I., No. I., p. 45 (February 1 , 1907),where the species is referred to as " Tahanus gabonensis, Macq." t Cf. Surcouf and l^.' (Idiiird pale median stripe on the abdomen, and the presence of a distinct, tapering, pale, longitudinal streak on each side of the latter, between the median stripe and the lateral margin. Up to the present time T. kingsleyi has been received only from Sierra Leone and the Sierra Leone Protectorate. The six specimens in the Museum include five females from Port Lokkoh and Port Lokkoh Creek, April and May, 1904 {Major F. Smith, D.S.O., R.A.M.C), and one female from the vicinity of Bai walla. Sierra Leone Protectorate, June, 1903 {Dr. H. F. Conyngham). Major Smith's note on the specimens collected by him at Port Lokkoh in April (the dry season in Sierra Leone) runs as follows : — • " Numerous ; no other species about ; bit me severely in my house, several hundi'cd yards from the water." Tabanus congoiensis, Ricardo. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Ser. 8, Vol. I., p. 328 (1908). Plate VIIL, fig. 56. Tabanus congoiensis, Ricardo, has as yet been met with only in the Congo Free State and Portuguese Congo. The locahties, etc., of the seven females in the National Collection are as follows. — Congo Free State : Tumba, Cataract Region, R. Congo, November 5th, 1903 {Drs. Button, Todd, and Christy) ; Wat hen, 1904 {the late Rev. W. H. Bentley). Portuguese Congo : San Salvador, between August and Octol)er, 1908 {Dr. 31. Gamble). It may be noted that Tabanus lemairei, Surcouf {Bulletin du Museum Natiomd d'llistoire Naturelle, Annee 1908, No. 2, p. 123 (Paris, 1908), — which was described from a female from the Katanga District of the Congo Free State, belonging to the Royal Belgian Natural History Museum, — is very closely alhed to, if not identical with, T. congoiensis, Ricardo. In T. lemairei, however, the first joint of the antennae is stated to be clothed with white instead of with black hair, as is the case in 7\ congoiensis. Should the M 2 100 identity be proved, by a subsequent comparison of the types, the question as to which name is to be regarded as having priority will have to be decided. The wrapper of the number of the Bulletin du Museu7n National cVHistoire Naturdh containing the descrip- tion of Tabanus lemairei, Surcouf, is dated " Fevrier, 1908," but there are reasons for thinking that the part may not have been published until April, the month in which the description of T. congoiensis, Ricardo, appeared. Tabanus socialis, Walker. Insecta Saundersiana, Vol. I., Diptera, Part I., p. 45 (1850). Plate VIII. , fig. 57. In this species the colour of the median stripe on the abdomen is usually a very faint grey, and, at any rate in pinned and more or less denuded specimens, the stripe generally appears more uniform and less broken up into spots than might be imagined from the figure. So far as is indicated by the localities of the specimens in the Museum, the area of distribution of Tabanus socialis extends at least from the Gambia to the Congo : it may be added that, according to its label, the type of the species is from the Congo (instead of from the " Cape," as erroneously stated by Walker), but that no other specimens have yet been received from that region. The localities, etc., of the thirty-four specimens (one male and thirty-three females) of Tabanus socialis in the Museum Collec- tion are as follows. — Gambia (precise locality unknown), 1906 {Dr. E. Hopkinson, D.S.O.). Sierra Leone : Mt. Aureol, Freetown, May and June, 1904 {Major F. Smith, D.S.O., R.A.M.C.) ; Karina District, Sierra Leone Protectorate, October-November, 1906 {Dr. H. E. Arbuckle, W.A.M.S.) ; Bonthe, Sherbro River, March, 1908, " in mangrove swamp " {Dr. Jackson- Moore, per Dr. R. M. Forde, W.A.3I.S.). Liberia: (precise locality unknown), 1908; Mon- rovia, February 16th, 1909, " caught on board H.M.S. Mutine, 1800 yards from the beach ; wind inshore, force 2 " {Surgeon A. McCloy, B.N.). Gold Coast : one male and one lenjale, Sckondi, .Vugust ISth, 19UG {Dr. W. M. Graham, W.A.M.i^.) ; Axim, " fauglit on dredge on Aneobiu River, April, 1907 " (received from Dr. W. M. Graham). Southern Nigeria : Lagos, 1899 [Dr. W. II. W. Strachan, C.M.G.) ; Bonny, July, 1872 («7. J. and Mrs. Monieiro) ; Sapele, April, 190G, and Warri, May, 1906 {G. G. Dudgeon) ; Old Calabar, 1895 {the late Miss Marij H. Kingsley), and April, 1907 {Major F. R. W . Sampson). " Congo " {ex Saunders Collection). Tahanus socialis. Walk., of which T. nigrohirtus, Ricardo {Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Ser. 7, Vol. VI., j). ir.n (1000)), is a synonym, may possibly be identical witli 7'. testaceiventris, Macq. (1847). Macquart's description, however, is not sufficiently definite to enable a positive opinion to be formed, and the locality of his species is given by him merely as " Afrique," without any more precise indication. Writing of this species as met with in French Congo, by the members of the French Expedition to French Congo for the Study of Sleeping Sickness, M. Roubaud says : — " Very common at Brazzaville, where it bites man. Especially numerous during the transitional period at the end of the dry season ; appears sporadi- cally during the remainder of the year Taken in numbers on the banks of the Upper Alima, rarer on the Lower Alima : a per- tinacious biter of human beings."* Tabanus fraternus, .Maoquart. Memoires de la Societe Royale des Sciences, de V Agriculture et des Arts de Lille, Annee 1844, p. 159 (Lille, 184G) ; Dipteres Exo- tiques, Supplement, p. 31 (1846). Plate VIIL, fig. 58. Tahamis fraternus, Macq. (syn. T. hipartitus. Walk., and T. trisignntus, Lw.), the type of which is stated to have been collectetl * Gf. Surcouf and Roubaud, Bulletin du Mus'hnn Xaiional (VHi^itoire Saturdle, Ann6e 1908, No. 5 (Paris. lOOS) (•■ Tahanus nign.liiitiis. Rioard.) "). 102 in Kaffraria, Cape Colony, is at present represented in the Museum Collection by only eight females, the localities of which, however, are sufficient to show that the range of the species extends at least as far to the north-east as German East Africa. The following are the localities, etc., of the Museum specimens. — " South Africa," 1854 {R. W. Plant) ; " South Africa " {collected by the Rev. G. Livingstone, on Dr. Livingstone's Expedition — presented by Lord John Russell, 1863). Natal : precise locality unknown {ex Saunders Collection). Nyasaland Protectorate : Lunyina River, Henga, 3000 feet, January 29th, 1894 {Captain Richard Crawshay) ; Fort Johnston, January 12th, 1906 {E. L. Rhoades) ; precise locality unknown, 1907 {Dr. J. E. S. Old). " East Africa," — i.e., German East Africa {collected on Captain Speke's Expedition to the Sources of the Nile — presented by Lord John Russell, 1864). Tabanus taeniola, Palisot de Beauvois. Insectes Recueillis en Afrique et en Amerique, dans les Royaumes d'Oware et de Benin, A Saint-Domingue et dans les Etats- Unis, pendant les Annees 1786-1797, p. 56, Dipteres, PL I., fig. 6 (1805-1821). Plate VIII., fig. 61. Whether or not Tabanus toeniola be actually common in any given locaUty, there can be no doubt whatever that it is the most widely distributed of all the African Tabanidae, its range extending from Upper Egypt, the Anglo-Eg3rptian and French Sudan, and Senegal, at any rate to Delagoa Bay and the Transvaal, if not still further to the south. The pale median stripe on the abdomen, wliich in the tjrpical form has its sides at least as regular as in the figure, is subject to great variation in width and shape, so that it is sometimes reduced almost to a mere line, and sometimes considerably ex- panded beyond the middle, while in other cases again (form socius, Walk.) it widens out on tiic hiutl margins of i\\v sctond and toiiouing segments, so that its distal portion appears to be formed by a series of truncated triangles. It is not surprising that such a species should have been described under many different names, and in all probability Tabantts socius, Walk., T. macrops, Walk., T. dorsivitta. Walk, (1854 nee 1850), and T. virgatus, Austen {nomen nomim. for T. dorsivitta, Walk. — nonien his ledum), do not exhaust the Hst of synonyms of T. tceniola, Pal. de Beauv. Tahanus variaius, Walk, (see below, p. 105, Plate VIII., fig. 59), in which the modi- fication of the median abdominal stripe into a series of triangles, with their bases resting on the hind margins of the segments, is carried still further, is perhaps also a form of T. tmniola, Pal. de Beauv., although for the present it is more convenient to continue to regard it as a distinct species. In many localities Tabanus tceniola would appear to be extremely abundant, and the form socius is one of the commonest " seroot- flies " on the White Nile ; the species is represented in almost every consignment of African blood-sucking flies received at the Museum, and the National Collection already contains nearly two hundred examples of this insect. The area of distribution of the species being so extraordinarily wide, it is unnecessary to go into details with regard to these specimens, but a few general notes maj^ be added. In French Congo, according to Roubaud,* Tahanus tceniola is of general occurrence though local, and only a small number of individuals are found together ; in the region of Lake Chad the species is known to the natives as N^gaya Illi, or Ter Azarak* The type of Tahanus macrops, Walk., which is from Egypt, is a male, and it is interesting to observe that out of fourteen specimens recently received from the Kharga Oasis, Upper Egypt, July and September, 1907 {the late Dr. H. H. Baker), no fewer than eleven are males : with the exception of one other specimen of this sex, from Kcffi , Nassarawa Province, Northern Nigeria, May 3rd, 1907 [Dr. R. F. Williams), these are the only males of T. tceniola that have been * Cf. Surcouf and Roubaud, Bulhtin du Mitsrinn Sational d'Hixtoire XattirelU, Ann6e 190S, Xo. 5 (Paris. 1908). 104 received since the arrival of the type of T. macrops, more than sixty years ago. Tabanus tceniola attacks both human beings and domestic animals. According to Surcouf,* a French lieutenant of Zouaves named Chapin states that its bites are fatal to camels in French Congo. In the Kharga Oasis, Upper Egypt, where it occurs from May to September, T. tceniola is also said to kill camels, though according to the late Dr. H. H. Baker, formerly of the Corporation of Western Egypt, Limited, the statement needs verification. Writing from Qara, Kliarga Oasis, on December 5th, 1907, Dr. Baker said : — " With regard to the dis- semination of disease by the flies [T. tceniola, Pal. de Beauv.], the evidence that I have been able to obtain up to the present is not very strong. Among the natives this Oasis is considered an unhealthy place for camels, and they generally attribute its unhealthiness to the flies. Although frequently visited by Bedouin caravans, no camels are bred or kept permanently in the Oasis by the natives. Bedouins who have been obHged to keep camels here for some time, owing to want of grazing ground, are said to have lost considerable numbers of them. " The fly undoubtedly attacks camels, and whenever it bites draws a bead of blood and causes considerable irritation. Of the camels belonging to this Corporation which have died here, only one can be said to afford any evidence that the flies were the cause of death. In this case a camel, apparently in good health, was attacked by five or six flies : on the following day it was ill, and it died the day after. A native, who was bitten at the same time while catching specimens for me, was ill for three or four days. This took place some distance from our headquarters, and I did not see the dead camel. The fly is very rarely met with at our headquarters, but camels working in parts of the Oasis where the fly is common do not seem to be any more unhealthy than those working here. In those camels whose bodies I have examined after death, the post-mortem appearances have been so various that I do not think that the cause of death can have been the same in all cases." It is obvious that the death of the camel two days after being bitten, in the case * Archives de Paraaitologie, T. XI., p. 472 (1907). 105 mentioned by Dr. Baker, if due to any form of tr\ panosomiasis. and if it be true that the camel was previously in gcjod hcallli, indicates a disease of a more acute type than (ordinary nagana ;* the illness of the native, who was bitten at the same time, possibly points to some septic poison having been introduced on this occasion by the bites of the flies. Nevertheless the belief in the existence of a camel-killing fly prevails in other parts of Egypt, e.g., in the Fayvim, where the Arab camel-drivers assert that there is a fly in May and June which kills camels, f and in this case also it is possible that Tahanus tceniola is the species implicated. In any event, experiments should be made with T. tceniola in order to determine whether it possesses the power of transmitting disease. Should the species really be a disease-carrier among camels in Northern Africa, the malady disseminated is doubtless el debab (in Egypt, el debeh), which, according to Drs. Edmond and lOtienne Sergent, occurs from Morocco to Syria, and more than decimates camels in Algeria. J Tabanus variatus, Walker. Insecta Saundersiana, Vol. I., Diptera, Part I., p. 64 (1850). Plate VIII., fig. 59. Tahanus variatus, Walk. (syn. T. rubicundus, Walk, {nee Macq.), and T. serratus, Lw.), affords another instance of wide distribution, its range extending from Cape Colony to Abyssinia, and north-west * Cf. the remarks by Nabarro and Greig [Reports of the Sleeping Sickness Commission, No. V., p. 44, (July, 1905) ), on the " Jinja " disease in cattle in Uganda, "known locally as ' Sutoko,' " from which it appears that "the cattle, often ciuite well, may be stricken down and die in 24 hours." t Cf. Austen, " A Monograj)h of the Tsetse-Flies " (London : Printed by Order of the Trustees of the British Museum, 1903), p. 304. X Cf. Drs. Edmond and Etienne Sergent, " El-Debab. — Trypanosomieise des dromadaires de I'Afrique duNord " (Annates de V Institut PasUiir, T. XTX., pp. 17-48 (1905)). — In Algeria, it was showTi experimentally by the autiiors that Tab'inxts nimoralis, Mg. , and 7'. tomentosiis, Macq., are able to transmit the disease when they bite a healthy animal iinmediatelj' after having bitten one that is infected. In one successful experiment with T. totnentosus, however, there was an interval of twenty- two hours between the Ijites. 106 at least as far as the Gambia. The possibility that Tahanus variatus, which is represented in the Museum Collection by forty- three females, is in reality a form of Tahanus twniola, Pal. de Beauv., has aheady been alluded to in the notes on that species.* The locahties, etc., of the Museum specimens are as follows. — "Interior of South Africa," before 1843 (presented by the Earl of Derby). Orange River Colony : Bloemfontein, 1898 ( — Wihnan). Nyasa- land Protectorate : Blantyre District, May, 1905, and Zomba, April, 1906 {Dr. J. E. S. Old) ; Upper Shire River, January 14th and 20th, and Nkata Bay, Lake Nyasa, April 15th, 1906 {E. L. Rhoades). German East Africa : precise locality unknown {collected on Captain Speke^s Expedition to the Sources of the Nile — presented by Lord John Russell, 1864). Uganda : Ankole, May 9th, Buddu and Bulamwezi, 1903 {Colonel Sir David Bruce, C.B., R.A.M.C., F.R.S.) ; Junda, Buruh, " in banana plantation near R. Seziwa," and Buruh, " in patch of forest on Lukoge River, haK-way between Junda and Kisihza," 1903 {S. C. Tomkins) ; Kisembara, February 10th {Dr. Cuthhert Christy) ; Wadelai, November, 1904 {Captain E. D. W. Greig, I. M.S.) ; Albert Lake District, 1905 {Dr. G. H. Pooley) ; Northern Usoga, 1906 (received from Dr. A. D. P. Hodges). Abyssinia : Dembratcha, Godjam, April — May, 1902 {E. Degen). Angola : Bilie and Benguella, 1904 {Dr. F. Creighton Wellman). Northern Nigeria : Loko, north bank of Benue River, March, 1907 {Dr. B. McGahey, W.A.M.S.). Gambia, 1906 {Dr. E, Hopkinson, D.8.O.). This species also occurs on the islands in the Gulf of Guinea. According to R. Greeff,t " T. serratus, Lw." {i.e. T. variatus, Walk.), is very widely distributed upon St. Thomas I., but rare on Rolas : it is said to attack human beings, especially natives, with peculiar pertinacity. It may be noted that Tahanus variatus. Walk., perhaps ^ T. Sagittarius, Macq., but that without making an examination of Macquart's type a definite decision as to this is impossible. * Sea above, p. 103. ■]• Of. R. Greeff, Sitzgsber. der Gesellsch. zur. Bej. der ges. Naturivissensch. zu Marburg, 1884, p. 78. 107 Tabanus nigrostriatus, Ricardo. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, 8er. 8, Vol. I., p. 317 (1008), Plate VIII., fig. 60. This well-marked and easily recognisable species, which has hitherto been received only from the Nyasaland Protectorate, is represented in the National Collection by seven females from the Plateau of Zomba, presented in 1897 by Sir Alfred Sliarpe, K.C.M.G., G.B. Tabanus conspicuus, Ricardo. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Ser. 8, Vol. I., p. 313 (1908). Plate VIII., fig. 62. The only specimens of tliis species yet received are three females from Yoiuti, East Africa Protectorate, about twenty miles from the mouth of the Juba River {Major L. H. R. Pope-Hennessy, D.S.O.). The flies are stated by the donor to have flown into the cabin of a steam-launch, in February, 1905. Tabanus liventipes, Surcouf. Bulletin du Museum d'Histoire Naturelle, Annee 1907, p. 38 (Paris, 1907). Plate VIII., fig. 63. The figure of this species, which is not yet represented in the British Museum (Natural History), has been prepared from the type, kindly lent for the purpose by the authorities of the Museum d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, which possesses two females taken on 108 the coast of Mozambique, Portuguese East Africa, in 1906, by M. G. Vasse. Up to the present time, the species has not been recorded from any other locaHty. Tabanus denshamii, Austen. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Ser. 8, Vol. I., p. 222 (1908). Plate IX., fig. 64. This exceedingly striking species, which has hitherto been met with only in Uganda, North-Eastern Rhodesia, and the Katanga District, Congo Free State, is represented in the National Collection by four females, three of which are from Unyoro, Uganda, half-way between Masindi and the Murchison Falls, January, 1907 (the late Dr. W . A. Densham), while the fourth is from Fwambo, near the south-east end of Lake Tanganyika, North-Eastern Rhodesia, 1896 [W. H. Nutt). The late Dr. Densham in whose honour the species was named, supphed the following field-note concerning Tabanus denshaynii, as met with by him in Uganda : — " I saw this fly for the first time in January, 1907, half-way between Masindi and the Murchison Falls. In its flight and manner of alighting it resembles Tabanus tceniola, Pal. de Beauv., and I overlooked the first that appeared. I found it in several camps in the neighbourhood, but its distribution seems very local. The natives say that it is an elephant fly, but I shot an elephant in the vicinity, and saw no biting flies at all on or near it." Tabanus ustus, Walker. The Zoologist, Vol. VIII., Appendix p. xcv. (1850). Plate IX., riG. 65. There can be httle doubt that Tabanus ustus. Walk., of which Tabanus ternperatus, Walk., is a synonym, is the species referred to 100 by Loew (" Di]>teren-Fauna Siidafrika's " (1800), p. 3S) as Tahmms hovinus ; but altlu)U()7 [Rev. W . D. Armstrong). Portuguese Congo: San Salvador, 1909 {Dr. M. Gamble). Dr. J. L. Todd, writing of Tnhanus canus as met with in the Congo Free State during the Expedition of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine to the Congo, 1903-05, remarks : — " This lly was only taken b}^ persons travelling in canoes. It is reported to fly very rapidly, and its bite is said to be very severe." * According to the Rev. W. D. Armstrong, in the Congo Free State the species is " never found inland, is not very numerous, and only comes out in the twilight." The latter statement is supported by the mention by Surcouf and Roubaud of three specimens of T. canus as having been taken at 6.0 p.m. on the Lower Alima, in French Congo, where it is stated to attack human beings. f Tabanus quadrisignatus, Ricardo. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Ser. 8, Vol, I., p. 320 (1908). Plate IX., fig. 69. Three females, from Ruwe, Lualaba River, and the valley of the Lualaba, Katanga District, Congo Free State (between 9° and 11° S., and about 26° E.), February, 1906 {Dr. A. Yale Massey), are the present representatives of this species in the National Collection. Tabanus distinctus, Ricardo, which occurs in North-Eastern Rhodesia and Benguella, Angola, may be distinguished from T. quadrisignatus, which it closely resembles as regards the abdominal markings, by the presence of a narrow median light stripe on the front portion of the thorax. * Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology, Series T.M., Ndl. I., No. I., p. 44 (February 1, 1907). t Gf. Surcouf and Roubaud, Bulletin du Musi'um National d'Histoire Naturelle, Annee 1908, No. 5 (Paris, 1908). 112 Tabanus subangustus, Ricardo. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Ser. 8, Vol. I., p. 314 (1908). Plate IX., fig. 70. Up to the present time this species has been received by the British Museum (Natural History) only from Northern and Southern Nigeria, although according to Miss Ricardo, the Museum National d'HistoireNaturelle, Paris, possesses specimens of it from Senegambia. The localities, etc., of the nine females of T. subangustus in the National Collection are as follows. — Northern Nigeria : Zungeru, June 27th, and July 4th and 7th, 1905 {Dr. Dalziel) ; Slionga, June, 1907 {G. C. Dudgeon) ; Zaria, July 15th, 1907 (/. Brand) ; Amara, R. Benue, July and August, 1907 {Dr. J. McF. Pollard, W.A.M.S.). Southern Nigeria : Abutshi, R. Niger, 1903 {A. BraJiam) ; Odut, May, 1906 {G. C. Dudgeon). Tabanus albilinea, Walker. List of the Specimens of Dipterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum, Part I., p. 176 (1848). Plate IX., fig. 71. Tabanus albilinea. Walk., is a South African species, which is at present represented in the Museum Collection by four females. Two of these specimens (including the type) are without localities ; the other two are from Cape Town, 1864 {R. Trimen), and Pirie Bush, Cape Colony, 1898 {A. N. Stenning), respectively. Tabanus diversus, Ricardo. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Ser. 8, Vol. I., p. 330 (1908). Plate X., fig. 72. The only specimens of this pretty little species yet received are two femaloa from Kuwe, Liialal)a River, Katanga District, Congo Free State, al.c.ut 11° S. and 2r.' K., Prhruary, 1906 {Dr. A. Yale Massey), one of wliicli is the type of the species. Tahanus diver sus, Rieardo, resembles T. in,signis, L\v. (found in Ca|)e Colony, Natal, and Uganda — see page 72 and Plate V., fig. 3")), hut may he dis- tinguished by its smaller size, and by the absence of a grouj) of four grey spots in the centre of the second abdominal segment. Tabanus sharpei, Austen. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Ser. 8, Vol. I., p. 220 (1908). Plate X., fig. 73. The figure of this species has been prepared from the type, the only specimen hitherto received, which is from Katumbe, North Nyasa, Nyasaland Protectorate, December 6th, 1906 [Dr. J. E. S. Old). The collector's field-note with reference to this specimen is as follows : — " Country swampy jungle, with very tall, coarse reeds, and forest with low trees. Only game seen were bushbuck, water- buck and wart-hog ; old eland spoor plentiful, and that of bufifalo some months old." Tabanus wellmanii, Austen. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Ser. 8, Vol. T.. p. 225 (1908). Plate X., fig. 74. Of this species the Museum possesses the type and five other females, all collected in the Chiyaka District, Angola, in March, 1906, by Dr. F. Creighton Wellman, who states that the flies were " taken in a thick jungle," and that the species is " a pertinacious biter." From Tabanus argenteus, Surcouf,* T. wellmanii may be * See p. 114, and Plate X., fig. 75. 114 distinguished, inter alia, by the presence of a pair of pearl-grey stripes on the anterior portion of the thorax, and by the shape of the abdominal spots. Tabanus argenteus, Surcouf. Bulletin du Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Annee 1907, p. 264 (Paris, 1907). Plate X., pig. 75. The type of this species, which belongs to the Naturhistorisches Museum, Hamburg, is from the Gaboon, French Congo, where it was collected in 1881 by M. Soyaux. According to Surcouf and Roubaud,* this species seems not to occur at Brazzaville, French Congo, although (during the French Expedition to French Congo for the Study of Sleeping Sickness) three females were received from the district called Boula N'tangou, on the plateaus about one hundred kilometres to the west of Brazzaville : they were collected during the transitional period at the end of the wet season. For the opportunity of figuring Tabanus argenteus, which is not yet represented in the British Museum (Natural History), acknowledg- ment is due to M. J. R. M. Surcouf, of the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris. Tabanus gratus, Loew. Ofvers. af Kongl. Vetensk. — Akad. Forhandl., XIV., 1857, p. 340 (1858) : Dipteren-Fauna Siidafrika's, p. 42 (1860). Plate X., fig. 76. The range of this species, which was originally described from a specimen from Kaffraria, Cape Colony, is now known to extend to the north-east and north as far as Somaliland, the Anglo-Egjrptian * Bulletin du Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Ann6e 1908, No. 5 ( Paris, 1908) ("Tabanus argentatus "). 115 Sudan, and Egypt, and north-westwards to Upper Senegal and the Gambia. The locahties, etc., of the ten females in the Museum Collection are as follows. — Nyasaland Protectorate : Ciiinia River, "in the hills," May 5th, 1909 {Dr. E. II. A. Pask). Uganda : Fajao, Victoria Nile, November, 1904 {Captain E. D. W. Greig, I. M.S.); Nimule, Nile Province, 1900 {the late Dr. W. A. Densham). Northern Nigeria : near Yola, April 14th, 1905 {W . F. Gowers) ; Kontagora, January 28th, Ruka, July 17th, and Benue River, August, 1907 {J. Brand). French Sudan : locality unknown (received from M. J. R. M. Surcouf). According to Todd and Newstead,* Tahanus gratus, Lw., was met with in March, 1903, " on the Kunchau Creek, about 175 miles up the Gambia River," by the Expedition of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine to Senegambia. In his field-note on this species, as encountered by him in the Nile Province of Uganda, the late Dr. Densham ^\Tote : — " Seen several times at and near Nimule : taken on natives and on a dog. Eyes in living insect a beautiful greenish blue, with horizontal zigzag bands of crimson-purple." In French Congo, Tahanus gratus is stated by Surcouf and Roubaud to be common on cattle at Brazza- ville at the beginning of the rains. f Tabanus laverani, Surcouf. Bulletin du Museum National d^Histoire Naturelle, Annee 1907, p. 331 (Paris, 1907). Plate X., fig. 77. So far as is indicated by the specimens already received, the range of this West African species extends from the Gambia to Northern Nigeria. The following are the localities, etc., of the ten females in the National Collection. — Gambia, precise locaUty unknown, 1906 {Dr. E. Hopkirison, D.S.O.). French Guinea : Lower Rio * Cf. Newstead, Button and Todd, Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology, Series T.M., Vol. I., No. I., p. 45 (February 1, 1907). t Cf. Surcouf and Roubaud, Bulletin du Mtisi-um National d'Histoire Xaturelle, Ann6e 1908, No. 5 (Paris, 1908). 116 Nunez, 1904 (received from M. J. R. M. Surcouf). Sierra Leone : near Songotown, April, 1904 {Major F. Smith, D.S.O., R.A.M.C.) ; Batkanu, Sierra Leone Protectorate, May, 1907, " caught inside house, about 150 yards from river " {Dr. H. E. Arbuckle, W.A.M.S.). Northern Nigeria : Gwagwa, Nassarawa Province, May 12th, 1907, " on horse " {Dr. R. F. Williams, W.A.M.8.) ; Kontagora, June, 1907 {G. C. Dudgeon). Tabanus variabilis, Loew. Ofvers. af Kongl. VetensTc. — Akad. Forhandl., XIV., 1857, p. 340 (1858) : Dipteren-Fauna Siidafrika's, p. 41, Taf. I., fig. 23 (1860). Plate X., fig. 78. This species, which was originally described from Cape Colony, has recently been received from Uganda and the Katanga District of the Congo Free State. The following are the localities, etc., of the nineteen females in the Museum. — Uganda : Junda, Buruli, " in banana plantation near River Seziwa," 1903 {S. C. Tomkiris) ; Busoga, March, 1906 {Dr. A. D. P. Hodges), and August 7th, 1903 {Colonel Sir David Bruce, C.B., R.A.M.C, F.R.S.) ; Northern Usoga and north-east side of Lake George, 1906 (received from Dr. A. D. P. Hodges). Congo Free State : Ruwe, Lualaba River, about 11° S., and 26° E,, February, 1906, and near Lualaba River, Katanga District, between 9° and 10° S., January, 1907 {Dr. A. Yale Massey). Tabanus rothschildi, Surcouf. Bulletin du Museum d'Histoire Naturelle, Annee 1906, p. 527 (Paris, 1906). Plate X., fig. 79. The only specimens of this species yet obtained are the type and two other females, which are now in the collection of the Museum 117 National d'Histoire NaturcUc, Paris, and were takfii at Voi, in the East Africa Protectorate, in 1906, by M. Maurice de Rothschild : the figure has been prepared from ono of tljoso fomalos, kindly lent for the purpose by M, Surcouf. In markings and general appearance Tahanus roth.Hckddi, Surcouf, closely resembles T. morsiUins, Ricardo, a Somaliland species extremely common on the Webi Shebeli, which in Ogaden is known as " Balaad " and is beheved to disseminate a disease wliicli is fatal to horses, mules, and camels.* The two species can, however, be distinguished, inter alia, by the frontal callus, wlii( li in 7'. morsitans is very large (about two-thirds as deep as broad), prominent, and shining clove-brown, with its upper margin convex, while in T. rothschildi. the callus is mummy-brown instead of clove-brown, less than half as deep as broad, and its upper margin is concave. Tabanus taeniatus, Macquart. Histoire Naturelle des Insectes, Dipteres, T. I., p. 207 (1834). Plate XI., fig. 80. Tabanus tceniatus, Macq., which was described from a female from Cape Colony, also occurs in the Transvaal, but no specimens have as yet been received from elsewhere. The localities, etc., of the four examples in the Museum are as follows, — " South Africa," before 1844 {Dr. Andrew Smith). Simon's Town, Cape Colony, February, 1893 (P. de la Garde, R.N.). Piet Retief, Trans- vaal, October 25th (male) and November 1st (female), 1903 {Captain Richard Crawshay). The female caught by Captain Crawshay was taken on his stocking, which it was endeavouring to pierce with its proboscis. This and the following species {Tahanus ruwenzorii, Ricardo — Plate XI., fig. 81), as well as Tahanus capensis, Wied.. and 7'. tenuicornis, Macq. (syn. T. stigmn, Walk. — nee Fabr.), all of which have hairy eyes, belong to the sul)genus Therioplectes, Zeller. * Letter from Dr. R. E. Drake-Brockman to Mr. C. E. Pagan, dated May 20th, 190.5: cf. also Austen, " Monograph of tlie Tsetse-Flies" (1903), ]>. SdT. 118 Tabanus ruwenzorii, Ricardo. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Ser. 8, Vol. I., p. 332 (1908). Plate XI., fig. 81. Among the new species obtained by the recent Ruwenzori Ex- pedition, were two females (including the type) of Tabanus ruwenzorii, Ricardo, from Mubiiku Valley, East Ruwenzori, Uganda, between 5000 and 13,000 feet, taken on January 22nd and Feb- ruary 2nd, 1906, by the Hon. Gerald Legge and Mr. A. F. R. Wollaston. Up to the present time T. ruwenzorii has not been received from any other locahty. Tabanus ditaeniatus, Macquart. Memoires de la Societe Royale des Sciences, de V Agriculture et des Arts de Lille, 2® partie, p. 130 (1838) : Dipteres Exotiques, T. I., F« partie, p. 126 (1838). Plate XI., fig. 82. This species, which was described from Mauritius and also occurs in Reunion Island, has an extraordinarily wide distribution. While in Africa itself its range extends at least from the Transvaal to Egypt, and north-westwards to the Lake Chad region, and Senegal, Tabanus ditceniatus is also found in Baluchistan, India, Ceylon, China,* and Japan. The following are the localities, etc., of the thirty-six African specimens in the Museum Collection. — Transvaal: Pretoria, 1893 {W . L. Distant); Leydsdorp, May, 1907 {Dr. A. Copland). Portuguese East Africa : Marracune and Incanine, Lorenzo Marques, February 10th and 12th, 1907 {F. D. McMillan). Nyasaland Protectorate : Fort Johnston [Dr. Percy Rendall) ; Upper Shire, January 20th, Fort Johnston, January * A numbei" of specimens of T. ditceniatus, caught attacking liorses and cattle, were forwarded from Wei-Hai-Wei in 1907, by Dr. W. M. Muat. 110 2r)th, 1000 (/<;. L. Rhoades); C^iikala District, March 20tli, and Zomba, April, lOOG {Dr. J. E. S. Old). East Africa Protectorate : Mbuyimi, 1807 {G. S. Betton) ; Warkoi, 30 miles from the luoutli of the R. Juba, March, 1005 {Major L. H. R. Pope-He7inessy, D.S.O.) ; Malka Sala, Dawa River, December 15th, 1008 {Dr. R. E. Drake- Brockman). West Somaliland : Odhun and Gebidi labba dehd, River Webi, November 2Gth and 27th, 1008 {Dr. R. E. Drake- Brockman). Anglo-Egyptian Sudan : Bahr-El-Ghazal, February, 1005 {Lieut-Colonel R. H. Penton, D.S.O. , R.A.M.C). Angola: exact locality unknown, 1873 {J. J. Monteiro). Northern Nigeria: Hadeija, March 8th and 28th, and Katagum, August 10th, 1007 {Dr. J. M. Dalziel) ; R. Benue, between Amara and Ibi, 1008 {Dr. J. McF. Pollard). Gold Coast: Accra, November 6th, 1007 {Dr. W. M. Grahayn, W.A.M.S.). A specimen of T. diUenialus, Macq., was " caught in a European house placed on high ground at the mouth of the Gambia River," during the Expedition of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine to Senegambia, 1002-1003.* It is stated by Surcouf and Roubaudf that in the region of Lake Chad Tabanus ditceniatus is known to the natives as Ter Ahhiot (white-headed Tabanus). Dr. J. E. S. Old, in an official report on blood-sucking flies met with by him in the Chikala District, Nyasa- land Protectorate, in March, 1006, writes of Tabanus ditceiiiatus : — " Some were seen on the plastering of the outside walls of the huts of Chibwano's village, and biting men underneath Ficus trees." According to Major L. H, R. Pope-Hennessy {in litt., 'March 10th, 1005), the Somalis near Kismayu, Jubaland, East Africa Protector- ate, call this species " Baal ad" or " Banl at," but it would appear that the name is applied indiscriminately to any small Tabanid.J * Cf. Newstead, Diitttm and Todd. Annait of Tropical ^[rdicin>' and Parasitoloijy. Series T.M.. Vol. I., No. I., p. 44 (February 1, I'JOT), wliere tlio species Ls calleljiri(|c is flattened ; wings, though more or less sutfused wiili dark colour interrupted by pale streaks or blotches, without the peculiar light 134 markings characteristic of Hcematopota. The eye-markings are similar to those in the latter gen vis.* The genus Hippocentrum, of which three species have been described, is essentially West African, although the typical species Hippocentrum versicolor ,-\ Austen, has also been met with in the Nile Province of the Uganda Protectorate and in the Lado Enclave. As regards the other two species, Hippocentrum trimaculatum {Hcematopota trimaculata), Newstead, — the range of which is known to extend from the Congo Free State to the Sierra Leone Protectorate and the French Sudan in the region of Lake Chad — is very closely allied to and possibly identical with the third species, Hippocentrum (Hcematopota) strigipennis, Karsch, which was described from four denuded specimens from the Gaboon. Karsch's description of the wing-markings of his species, however, is not quite definite enough to enable a decided opinion to be formed as to whether or not H. trimaculatum, Newstead, is really a synonym of H. strigipennis, Karsch. Nothing is yet known of the life-history of the species of Hippocentrum, but the females are pertinacious biters, both of human beings and animals : the generic namej refers to the typical species, which is said to be very troublesome to horses in Lagos Province, Southern Nigeria. In the resting position the wings are carried as in Hcematopota. Hippocentrum versicolor, Austen. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Ser. 8, Vol. II., p. 354 (1908) Plate XII., fig. 95. The range of this easily recognisable species extends at least from Northern and Southern Nigeria to the Lado Enclave and the * Tn specimens of Hippocentrum trimaculatum, Newstead (see below), preserved in s|)irit, the eyes appear clove-brown, with four narrow, horizontal, green or bronze- green stripes, of which those forming the middle pair are more or less sinuous or zigzag. t See below, and Plate XII., fig. 95. J iVTros complete circle round the fork of the third vein, while occasionally a second small circle is visible below the other. CHAPTER VI. Family MUSCID^. Plate XIII., figs. 96, 97, and 101-103. Although this family includes some of the most important of all blood-sucking flies, the habit of sucking blood is highly exceptional among its members, and is confined to a very few genera, each of which consists of but a small number of species. The latter all present a general resemblance to the common house-fly, and, with the exception of certain species of Glossina (Tsetse-flies), are all of small size ; it is important to note that, contrary to the usual rule, the blood-sucking habit is common to both sexes. In addition to Stomoxys and Lyperosia, species of which are figured on Plate XIII., and Glossina, the only genera of blood-sucking Muscidse at present known to occur in the Ethiopian Region are Stygeromyia and Philcematomyia* Of these the former, which is in some respects intermediate between Stomoxys and Lyperosia, resembles Stomoxys in general appearance and the form of the body, but is distinguished, inter alia, by the relative stoutness of the short, chitinous, horizontal proboscis, and by the palpi being equal to the proboscis in length, large, expanded towards the tips, and curved upwards ; in the wing, the opening of the first posterior cell at the tip is exceedingly narrow (less than half the width of the opening of the same cell in the wing of Stomoxys calcitrans, Linn.), and the bent-up portion of the fourth longitudinal vein is almost or perfectly straight. Founded for Stygeromyia rnaculosa, Austen, the type of which was taken at Little Aden, Arabia {Lieut. -Colonel * The genus Beccarimyia, founded by Rondani for B. glossina, Rond. (Eritriea), is now regarded as allied to the genus Stoma forrhina {Idia), and B. glossina is believed not to bo a blood-sucking species at all {cj. Bezzi, liendiconti del K. 1st. Lomb. di sc. e left., Sorie II., Vol. XL., 1907, |). 485). Glossinella, Griinberg, for G. schillingsi, Griinb. {Zoologischer Anzeiger, XXX. Bd., 1906, p. 86. — German E. Africa), is a synonym cjf Lyperosia. 187 Yerburji)* the gcmis Sfi/t/i roniyid also iiu^Iudos a sfcoiid sju'cics, S. sanguinaria, Austi'ii.f uhicli has hccii taken at Ruwc, West Lualaba, Katanga District, Congo Free State [Dr. A. Yale Massey), and at Monkey Bay, Lake Nyasa, Nyasaland Protectorate {the late Captain Hallam Hardy, R.A.M.C). The type of the male, which was caught in open bush on high ground, attracted Dr. Vale Massey's attention by biting him on the hand, " causing pain similar to that produced by the bite of a Tsetse." Philcematomyia insignis, Austen. Fig. I. — Head of 9 in profile, showing proboscis as it appears when not in use ( x 25). J The genus Philoimatomyiu, of which but a single, remarkably widely distributed species {Ph. insignis, Austen, — a small greyish fly, not unlike Musca domestica, Linn., in size and general appearance) * Cf. E. E. Austen, " A New Genus and Species of Phlebotomic Muscida3 from Aden": Annals and Maijazine of Natural History, Ser. 7, Vol. XIX., pp. 445-448 (1907). iCf. E. E. Austen, ibid., Ser. 8, Vol. 111., pi). 286-288 (11)09). J For permission to reproduce this fifjure and the two following illustrations the author is indebted to Messrs. Taylor & Francis, who have most kindly lent the original blocks. 138 has yet been described,* is of peculiar interest owing to the structure of the proboscis. While the proximal portion of this organ is a strongly swollen, polished, chitinous bulb, the distal portion is soft and fleshy, folded back under the distal end of the bulb when not required, but when in use extended, its terminal section Philcematomyia insignis, Austen. Fig. II. — Proboscis of ?, with " tubular extension" not quite fully protruded from between the hairy, fleshy labella ( x about 70). Fig. III. — Proboscis of o, with tubular extension fully protruded, showing circlet of stout, black, chitinous teeth ( x about 70). consisting of a tubular extension, which is protruded from between the labella, and is surrounded at the distal extremity with a circlet of stout chitinous teeth (compare figs. I., II., and III.). When not in use the proboscis can be entirely retracted within the buccal cavity, so that it is invisible when the head is viewed in profile, but, in dead specimens at any rate, it more usually protrudes, * Cf. E. E. Austen, loc. cit., pp. 295-299. i;{9 projecting downwards at an angle ol about 45°. W lien the llj-sliy distal portion is icflcxcd hcncatli the distal vnd ol llic hull), the extremity of llic proboscis has a pointed appearance. Tiie lleshy portion, ^\hieh, like the hull), hears fine hairs, when reflexed ends in the labella, whicli tlierefore come to lie between the pointed tip of the proboscis and the rounded base of the bulb, and, when the proboscis in this condition is seen in profile, look like a fleshy pad lying on the under side of the bulb just beyond the middle. When the proboscis is brought into use, the fleshy portion is extended until it lies more or less in a line with the bulb, and the tubular extension (which, in a fly of normal size, is approximately 0.5 mm. in length) is protruded from between the inner surfaces of the labella, of which it forms a prolongation. The extension is supported internally by a pair of stout, black, chitinous rods, which are visible through the semi-transparent wall, and of which the proximal extremities are situate betAveen the tips of the labella. In dried specimens at any rate, the distal extremity of the tubular extension appears to consist of a thickened fleshy ring, armed with pale yellowish teeth or blades in addition to the circlet of stout, black, pointed teeth, which are situate on its inner margin. As regards other characters of Philcematomyia, it need only be said that the eyes are narrowly separated above in the male and wide apart in the female ; that the hairs on the arista, or bristle-like process projecting from the base of the third joint of the antenna, instead of being confined to the upper side, as in Stomoxys, Lyperosia, and Stygeromyia, are, as shown in fig. I., present on the under side as well, as in Musca domestica ; and that the venation of the wings is approxi- mately the same as in the latter species. It will be seen that Philcematomyia forms a remarkable connecting link between the Stomoxys group and the ordinary non-biting Muscidae, in which the broad, fleshy labella at the tip of the proboscis are not adapted for the perforation of the integument of Vertebrates. In the case of Stomoxys and Lyperosia the slender ehitinised proboscis (labium) is thrust bodily into the skin of the animal or human being on which the fly is feeding, and so forms a piercing organ, a hole being first cut in the skin by means of the powerful teeth 140 on the inner side of the small, externally chitinised labella, which are everted for the purpose. In Stygeromyia, and also in Hcematobia (a genus which occurs in Europe and India, but is not yet definitely known to occur in Africa), the labella, though somewhat larger, are similarly chitinised and armed, and they and the rest of the proboscis doubtless act as in Stomoxys, though it is possible that the proboscis does not penetrate so deeply into the skin of the victim. In Philcematomyia, however, in which the labella are large and fleshy, as in Musca, though, as has been seen, the proboscis is also provided with powerful teeth, there is strictly speaking no actual 'piercing organ, since the fleshy termination of the proboscis would seem to be incapable of being thrust into the skin of a Vertebrate. The fly therefore in all probability feeds by cutting through the epidermis with the teeth at the end of the tubular extension, and then sucking up the blood in the ordinary way. Specimens of Philcematomyia insignis, Austen, were taken at St. Louis, Senegal, on May 16th, 1903, " feeding on cattle and donkeys," by the late Dr. H. E. Dutton and Dr. J. L. Todd, and at Zambie, R. Congo, Congo Free State, in September, 1903 {Drs. Dutton, Todd, and Christy) ; additional examples have also been received from Cyprus, Sokotra, India, and Ceylon. In Cyprus, according to information received from Dr. G. A. Williamson, Ph. insignis attacks human beings and horses, and the latter become very restive when bitten. The African blood-sucking Muscidae (exclusive of Glossina) at present known vary in length from about 2.5 mm., in the case of a small specimen of Lyperosia thirouxi, Roubaud, to 7 mm. in that of Stygeromyia sanguinaria, Austen, or a large species of Stomoxys, such as S. inornata, Griinberg. The coloration of the body is dull (some shade of grey, brown, or blackish, with darker markings), while the wings, — which in the resting position lie in the horizontal plane, diverge more or less at the tips, and may, as in Lyperosia, overlap to some extent at the base, — are hyaline or infuscated, but never mottled. The horizontal, chitinous, proboscis is visible from above in the case of Stomoxys, but in Lyperosia, in the normal resting position, is concealed by the palpi ; in Stygeromyia, owing to its rolativo shortness, the proboscis is scarcely noticeahlc f'rnin above, especially since its extremity is concealed by the ti])s ' tar the most wi(l('l\- distrilmted specios of Stoinoxys ill Africa. Altliouuli i1 cannot yet he proved hy actual specimens that S. cdUittdiiti is of miiNcrsal occurrence on tiic African continent, it would seem highly probable that this is so, since the species is certainly found from Algeria and Egypt to Cape Colony, and from Gambia to the East Africa Protectorate. Outside Africa and Europe, where it occurs everywhere from Lapland southwards, Stomoxijs calcitrans exists throughout the greater part of the world. The Museum Collection contains specimens from the Azores, Canary Is., Porto Santo Is., Madeira, the Seychelles Is., Palestine, India, Ceylon. Siam, North China (Wei-Hai-Wei), Queensland, the Sandwich Is., British Columbia, Canada, Mexico, Central America, the West Indies, Brazil (Lower Amazons), and Uruguay ; while the species has been recorded from Hong Kong, Batavia, Ncm' South Wales, and New Zealand, and is said to be " Very common throughout the inhabited parts of North America."* As a rule, African examples of Stomoxys calcitrans are smaller than British specimens, while, as is not surprising in the case of so widely distributed a species, the abdominal spots show considerable individual variation in size and shape. The localities, etc., of the African specimens in the Museum are as follows. — Gambia : McCarthy Island, March 27th, 1903, "feeding on horse," and Salikenny, April 23rd, 1903, " in stable " {the late Dr. J. E. Dntton, and Dr. J . L. Todd) ; j)recise locality unknown, 1906 {Dr. E. Hopkinson, D.S.O.). Gold Coast : Accra, February loth, 1907, " on window " {Dr. W. M. Graham, W.A.M.S.). Ashanti : Kumasi, January 25th, 1905, " on horse " {Lieut. -Colonel G. M. Giles, late I. M.S.) ; Obuasi, April 16th, May 31st, and September 3(>th. " caught on cattle and in tent," and Prahsu, December 16th. 1907. "intent" {Dr. W. 31. Graham, W.A.M.S.). Northern Nigeria : Kefti. Nassarawa Province, June 19th-22nd, and October 1st. 1907 {Dr. R. F. Williams, W.A.M.8.). Congo Free State : Leopoldville, December 30th, 1903 {Drs. Dutton, Todd, and Christy). Angola : Benguella, February, " generally taken on dogs and other domestic animals ; * J. M. Aldrich. " A Catalogue of North American Diptera," i). 530 (Washington : published by the Smithsonian Institution. 1905). 144 quite common," and Bailimdo, June 25th, 1905 [Dr. F. Creighton Wellman). Anglo-Egyptian Sudan : Khartoum, May, 1908 {H. H. King). Somahland : Sheikh, North SomaHland, March 7th, 1907 {Dr. R. E. Drake- Brockman). East Africa Protectorate : Machakos, June, 1898, caught in company with Stoinoxys nigra, Macq., sucking the blood of mules suffering from Tsetse-fly disease* {the late Vety.-Captain A. G. Haslam, A.V.D.). Uganda Protectorate : Entebbe, September 24th, 1903 {Dr. D. Nabarro) ; exact locality unknown, 1907 {the late Dr. W. A. Densham). Zanzibar Protectorate : Pemba I., August 26th, 1899 {Dr. D. R. O'Sullivan-Beare). Portuguese East Africa : Incanine, Lorenzo Marques, December 15th, 1906, " on native " {F . D. McMillan). Natal : Umfuli River, November, 1895, and Estcourt, September and October, 1896 {G. A. K. Marshall). Transvaal : Pretoria, 1904 {Dr. A. Theiler, C.M.G.). According to Grunberg,t Stomoxys calcitrans occurs in Togoland, but up to 1906 had not been received from Cameroon ; in German East Africa, however, the species is apparently very common. It may be added that S. korogwensis, Griinb.,{ which was described from a male from German East Africa, is merely a synonym of S. calcitrans, L., and that the difference in the abdominal markings upon which Griinberg relies may be seen in many British specimens, as well as in individuals from other parts of the world. It also seems probable that S. sitiens, Rond. (described from a male from Eritrsea) is a synonym of S. calcitrans, L. With reference to this species, as met with in Gambia and the Congo Free State by the members of the Expeditions of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Dr. J. L. Todd§ writes as follows : — " This fly was caught in the open and in the houses of Europeans. It feeds on all mammals, but seems to be especially fond of feeding at the tips of dogs' ears. Both on the Gambia and on the Congo * Of. Austen, "Monograph of the Tsetse-FHes," p. 304 (1903). t Zoologischer Anzeiger, XXX. Bd., p. 87 (1906). J Loc. cit., ]). 88. ^Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology, Series T. M., Vol. I., No. 1, p. 76 (February 1, 1907). 145 dogs were often seen with thiur ears raw ami blecdijig I'lom tlie attacks of this pest." Mr. F. D. McMilhui, writmg from Lorenzo Marques, kindly suppUes the following note on Stomoxys calcitrans : — " Native name G'nane Pungane. This is a liorrid little fly that is always biting one, and apparently draws more blood than it can carry away, for it leaves a small clot of blood or else makes such a large hole that blood comes. Sometimes the bite is painful and causes swelling, and sometimes no mark, except the clot of blood, is left. The species is common everywhere, and I have met with it in ilie Transvaal, Cape Colony, and Natal."* It frequently happens that Stomoxys calcitrans is taken attacking animals in company with *S^. nigra, Macq., as was done by Dr. W. M. Graham in Ashanti, and by the late Captain A. G. Haslam at Machakos, East Africa Protectorate, in June, 1898. In sending specimens of these two species from Machakos, Captain Haslam Avrote to the author on July 3rd, 1898, that he had " caught these flies on every kind of animal, including gazelles, wildebeeste, and all domestic animals, and also on meat exposed for a few seconds." Captain Haslam continued : — " Animals do not object to them much after the preliminary stab with the proboscis. They remain sucking for several minutes, and bulge out their abdomens with blood."! Howard, writing at Washington, U.S.A., states that Stomoxys calcitrans is able to bite " through tliin clothing. "{ Newstead, who allowed himself to be bitten by a newly emerged male fly, describes the process of feeding and his own sensations as follows : — " In sucking blood from the writer's hand the insect sat high upon its legs, but the anterior pair were much elbowed, and all the joints of the tarsi generally rested upon the skin of the host. The whole * Linnaeus's observations, written nearly one hundred and fifty years ago (Fauna Suecica, Ed. II., loc. cit. [1761]), on tlie behaviour of S. calcitrans in Sweden are as follows :— " Habitat ubique. Haec tibias nostras ingruente pra-sertim phuin punpit ; haec, ut continuo calcitrent t)oves, noc jjedibus quioscant, facit ; ubi pungit, macula saepe rubra in medio coccinea, diu durans " (" Found everywhere. This fly l)itos our shins, especially during rain ; it makes cattle kick continuously, so that tlieir feet are never still ; the place bitten is often marked by a red spot with a scarlet centre, which lasts for a long time "). t Cf. Austen, "Monograph of the Tsetse-Flies," loc. cit." f Cf. L. O. Howard, Proceedings of the Washington Academy of ScienceSfVol. II., p. 578 (1900). 146 of the proboscis was straightened and held vertically, and the anterior third was driven into the flesh [Newstead remarks in a note that : — " In thick-skinned animals the proboscis would in all probability be driven in still further."]. During the process, which lasted altogether for a period of 15 minutes, the proboscis was constantly, but somewhat slowly, moved up and down, and also with an occasional semi-rotary movement, reminding one somewhat of the action of a quarryman's hand drill. This action was continued until the fly had pumped its body full of blood. The initial pain was trifling compared with that of a mosquito ; but there were two subsequent pricks which were quite as irritating as the first. A small drop of blood was left over the puncture, and when this was washed away a small roseola was revealed ; but there was no subsequent irritation or soreness of any kind. A clear fluid was passed from the anus four times during the process, and on several occasions subsequently, and judging from the size of the abdomen the food was rapidly assimilated."* For an account of the anatomy of the mouth-parts of Stomoxys calcitrans, the reader is referred to the excellent and admirably illustrated paper by Stephens and Newsteadf : for the internal anatomy, Tulloch's paper,f which refers either to this species or to Stomoxys nigra, Macq., should be consulted. No observations on the breeding-habits of Life-history Stomoxys calcitrans in Africa have yet been of Stomoxys recorded, but the life-history of the species has calcitrans, been studied in Europe and North America. So long ago as 1834, Bouche§ stated that the larva * Cf. B. Newstead, Journal of Economic Biology, Vol. I., pp. 159, 160 (1906), and Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology, Series T. M., Vol. I., No. 1, p. 79 (February 1, 1907). f " The Anatomy of the Proboscis of Biting Flies, by J. W. W. Stephens, M.D.Cantab., and R. Newstead, A.L.S., F.E.S.— Part II. Stomoxys (Stable-Fhes) " : Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology, Series T. M., Vol. I., No. 2, pp. 171-198, Plates XII.-XIX. (June 15. 1907).— C/. also Hansen, " The Mouth-Parts of Glossina and Stomoxys," — Austen's " Monograph of the Tsetse-Flies," pp. 105-120, Plates VIII. and IX. (1903). X " The Internal Anatomy of Stomoxys," by (the late) F. Tulloch, Lieut. R.A.M. Corps: Proceedings of the Royal Society, B., Vol. 77, pp. 523-531, five figures in text (1906). § " Naturgeschichte der Insekten," p. 56 (Berlin, 1834). 117 was to be found in warm horse mamiro, in company with that of Musca domestica, L. (the Common House-fly), and in 1889 and 1890 Dr. L. O. Howard reared Stomoxys calcilrans from horse manure at Wtxshington.* In 1906 Newstead, in Enghxnd, succeeded in inducing a " small percentage " of captive females of *S^. calcitrans to oviposit on fresh droppings of the horse, sheep, and rabbit, and was thus enabled to study the metamorphoses.! Under these circumstances it was found by this author that " two important conditions were necessary for the development of the larvae, viz., an almost complete absence of light and an abundance of moisture.^'' Subsequently Newstead observed the species of ovipositing under natural con- ditions, in a heap of cut and heated grass. The following brief summary is based upon Mr. Newstead's paper, J and upon an examination of material kindly presented to the Museum by him. The eggs, which are laid in batches usually containing about fifty to seventy, are white, 1 mm. in length, elongate and somewhat resembling a banana in shape, with one side nearly straight and the other curved, and with a broad deep groove on the straight side. At an average temperature of about 72° F. by day, and 65° F. by night, they were found to hatch in from two to three days. The larva, which is a footless maggot of the usual Muscid type, and closely similar in colour and general appearance to that of the Common House-fly, is 11 mm. in length when adult, and " creamy- white to pale ochreous, translucent, shining and almost glass-Uke " : the black mouth-hooks are visible through the integument of the narrower, cephalic extremity. The larva of Stomoxys calcitrans is distinguishable from that of Musca domestica by the two plates on the posterior surface of the last segment, which bear the respiratory apertures (posterior stigmata), being much smaller, nearly circular (instead of the inner side of each plate being straight), and from four to six times as far apart, w^ith the three apertures in each plate only slightly curved instead of extremely sinuous, * Gf. Howard, loc. cit., pp, 578-579. t Cf. R. Newstead, " On the Life-history of Stomoxi/s calcitran.t. Linn." : Journal of Economic Biology, Vol.1., pp. L57-1(JG, Plate XII. (Reprinted in Annah of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology, Series T. M., Vol. I., No. 1, pp. 76-85, Plate V.). I Cf. R. Newstead, loc, cit. l2 148 Under favourable conditions, in August in England, the larval stage has been found to last from a fortnight to three weeks. The fuya or puparium'^ is barrel-shaped, as in the case of Muscidae generally, about 5.8 mm. in length, and in colour " bright terra- cotta red, changing to dark chestnut-brown a few days before the emergence of the fly." In Newstead's hands the duration of this stage was from nine to thirteen days. Stomoxys calcitrans as a Disease-Carrier. I. Diseases other than trypanosomiases. (1) Anthrax.— In 1878, it was stated by Megnin that Stomoxys calcitrans and a species of Pangonia (Family Tabanidse) had been proved (by a veterinary surgeon named Germain, belonging to the French Army) to have been the " principal agents " in the dissemination of an extensive epidemic of malignant pustule in the Isle of Pines, New Caledonia. f The outcome of the summary by Nuttall on the subject of " Anthrax and Flies,"$ however, would seem to be that, in default of direct experimental proof, neither Stomoxys calcitrans nor other biting flies can be considered as anything more than fortuitous transmitters of anthrax. (2) Filariasis. — Investigations carried out at Ostia, in Italy, by Dr. Giovanni Noe,§ tend to show that Stomoxys calcitrans is the intermediate host and transmitter of Filaria labiato-papillosa, Alessandrini,|| of the ox. Noe's studies were not carried to a * What is seen is really the puparium, or pupa-case, consisting, as in all Muscidae (and indeed in all Cyclorrhaplia, — the great primary division of the Diptera to which the Family Muscidse belongs) , of the hardened and contracted last larval skin ; the actual pujDa lies within this. f Cf. Megnin, Bulletin des Si'ances de la Socii'te Entomologiqne de France, annee 1878, pp. CXLIV.— CXLV. (1878). J Cf. G. H. F. Nuttall, " On the Role of Insects, Arachnids, and Myriapods as Carriers in the Spread of Bacterial and Parasitic Diseases of Man and Animals. A Critical and Historical Study": Johns Hopkins Hospital Reports, Vol. VIII., pp. 2-12 (Baltimore, 1899). § Gf. Giovanni Noe, " Studi sul ciclo evolutivo della Filaria labiato-papillosa, Alessandrini " ; Atti della Reale Accademia Dei Lincei, Anno CCC. Serie Quinta. Rendiconti, classe di sc. fis., mat. e nat. Vol. XII., 2 Semestre, Fasc. 9, pp. 387-393 (1903). II Apud Noe (loc. cit., p. 392), F. labiato-papillosa, Alessandrini, is apparently a synonym of F. stomoxeos, v. Linstow, which was described from embryoes found in the proboscis of a Stomoxys calcitrans in Prussia. 1 \u conclusion, and ii|) to January, 190!), had not been recorded as having been confirmed by exjjcriments ; but it would a})|)ear tliat the embryoes of the parasite pass through the wall of the alimentary canal of the fly and collect in its head, where the larval development is completed within the muscles, and that the adult larva makes its way into the labium of the Stomoxys, and thence into the definitive host. It is interesting to note that numerous dissections of " Hcematobia " (almost certainly Lyperosia), — which, according to Noe, are found in swarms on the cattle in the Agro Romano, the collected flies looking from a distance like large black blotches, — all proved negative and failed to reveal embryoes of the Filaria, although Noe states that the " Hcematobia " persecute the cattle to a much sn'eater extent than does S. calcitrans. O" II, Trypanosomiases. (1) Surra. — In Java, according to Schat,* Stomoxys calcitrans, L., and Lyperosia exigua, de Meijere, are the chief agents in the transmission of suiTa. Writing of the same malady in the Philippine Islands, Musgrave and Cleggf state that it has been " conclusively shown " that Stomoxys calcitrans and certain other biting flies transmit the disease. (2) Other Trypanosomiases (in Africa). — Some three years ago it was proved experimentally by Dr. G. Bouffard, at Bamako, in the French Sudan, that a species of Stomoxys is capable of transmitting Trypanosoma cazalboui, Laveran, the pathogenic agent in a disease called souma, which causes great mortahty among cattle, horses, and donkeys in the French Sudan, but is incommunicable to monkeys, dogs, and rodents. J The experimental transmission was in all probability direct, since a non-infected and an infected calf and forty of the flies were placed in the same stable, * Cf. p. Schat, " Verdere Mededeelingen over ' Surra '" : Mededeel. Proef station Oost-Java, 3e Ser., No. 44 (1903). t Cf. W. E. Musgrave, M.D., and Moses T. Clegg, " Trypanosoma and Trypano- somiasis, with Special Reference to Surra in the Philijjpine Islands," p. 86 (Manila Bureau of Public Printing, 1903). X Cf. G. Bouffard, " Sur I'Ktiologio de la Souma, Trypanosomiase dn Soudan Fran(;ais " : Comptes Rendua des Srancen de la Societi' de Biologie, T. LXII. (S6ance du 19 Janvier, 1907), p. 71 e< aeq. (1907). 150 and kept there for two days ; the animals had been freed from ticks, and the openings into the stable were protected by wire- gauze. In Bouffard's opinion the local abundance of the Stomoxys readily explains the ravages caused by souma among cattle. Unfortunately the species of Stomoxys used in the experiment is doubtful, though there is reason to think that it was either Stomoxys calcitrans, L., or S. nigra, Macq.* In French Congo, Gustave Martin, Leboeuf, and Roubaud have shown that Trypanosoma brucei, PL and Br. (the parasite of nagana) can be conveyed mechanically by either Stomoxys nigra, Macq., or *S^. calcitrans, L. (or perhaps by both).f Three flies (two S. nigra and one >S'. calcitrans) were allowed to imbibe a drop of virulent blood, and then, after intervals of from half a minute to a minute and a half, were successively made to bite a healthy kitten, in the blood of which numerous parasites were subsequently found on the twelfth day. From the conditions of the experiment it is uncertain whether the trypanosome was carried by all three fUes used, i.e., by both S. calcitrans and S. nigra. It may, however, be noted that a subsequent experiment by the same investigators on similar lines, in which three S. nigra and a guinea-pig were used, and the intervals were ten minutes in the case of one fly and a quarter of an hour in that of the other two, gave negative results. The authors refer to direct-transmission experiments by Minchin, Gray, and TuUoch in Uganda, with a trypanosome (that of " Jinja " cattle- disease) allied to T. brucei and with no interval between the bites, when, by using Stomoxys [either S. 7iigra or S. calcitrans, or both], one positive result in four was obtained, while the use of Glossina palpalis gave four positive results in five. J Messrs. Martin, Leboeuf, and Roubaud add : — " It is therefore evident that, even as simple carriers, the species of Glossina are of more * The species was actually described by F. Picard {Bulletin de la Socu'U' enio- mologique de France, 1907, pp. 27, 28) as Stomoxys bouffardi, but the description, which, as I am informed by the author, was based upon specimens in very bad condition, is quite unrecognisable. f 6'/. Gustave Martin, Leboeuf, and Roubaud, Bulletin de la SociHe de Pathologie Exotique, T. I., No. 6, p. 3.56 (1908). f Of. Minfliiii. Gray, and TuUoch, Reports oj the Sleeping Sickness Commission of the Royal Society, No. VIll., p. 124 (February, 1907). 151 importance than those of Siomoxys ; yet the role of tlie latter cannot be overlooked." As bearing on tlie question of tlie role of Stornoxys as a simple carrier, it may be mentioned that in Uganda Greig and Nabarro never succeeded in conveying trypanosomes from infected to healthy animals by means of Stornoxys, when the intervals were as long as six or twenty-four hours* ; and that Greig and Gray similarly failed to convey " Jinja cattle " and mule trypanosomes by the bites of Stornoxys after intervals of eight and twenty-four hours, f As a result of their experiments, Greig and Gray (who appear to ignore cases in which a fly bites a healthy animal immediately after sucking blood from an infected one) write : — '* It may be, further, considered proved that Stomoxys cannot convey these trypanosomes from the sick to the healthy animals. This is a matter of great practical importance also, because these flies abound in Uganda. "J An examination of specimens forwarded to the Museum shows that, in these experiments in Uganda, both Stomoxys calcitrans, L., and *S^. nigra, Macq., were employed. Experiments on direct transmission of Trypanosoma gambiense by means of any species of Stomoxys do not yet appear to have been made, but the fate of this parasite when ingested with blood by S. calcitrans or S. nigra would seem to be disappearance (digestion) within two days. According to Dutton, Todd, and Hannington § : — " In the Gambia, trypanosomes, identical with those ingested, were found unchanged in the gut of Stomoxys\\ up to twenty hours after they had fed heavdly on a horse infected with Trypanosonui gambiense. Longitudinal divisional forms were seen." In Uganda, however, Minchin found that when Stomoxys\\ and Mosquitoes were fed upon animals infected with Trypanosoma gambiense, the trypanosomes ingested by the flies " went through the same changes of form and structure as in Glossina palpalis,^' but that, in Stomoxys, " no * Cf. Reports of the Sleeping Sickness Commission, No. 5, p. 40 (July, 1905). t Ibid., No. VI., pp. 203-208. X Ibid., p. 209. § Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology, Series T.M., V'ol. I., No, 2, p, 221 (June 15, 1907). II Either Stomoxys calcitrans, L., or S. nigra, Macq., or both. — E.E.A. 152 trypanosomes were found on the second day (forty-eight hours) after infection."* With regard to the trypanosomiasis prevalent at the present time among cattle in the northern area of North- Western Rhodesia, and apparently due to two species of Trypanosoma,^ it has recently been stated by Montgomery and Kinghorn that, in the case of at least one herd, "the evidence is suggestive that Stomoxys and Lyperosia had acted as transmitting agents. "J No transmission experiments were performed, but the view of the authors (which certainly receives collateral support from the result of Bouffard's experiments described above) is that the flies in question serve to spread the disease around a homestead, when an infected animal has been introduced into a herd.§ Stomoxys and Lyperosia were taken in the cattle kraal of a farm in the northern part of North- western Rhodesia, and the authors state that specimens of the former " were most frequently met with in villages, but on two occasions were taken from recently shot game."|| The species was evidently not determined, but there can be little doubt that it was either Stomoxys calcitrans or S. nigra, unless, as is quite likely, both species were present .1 As regards sleeping sickness, Dr. A. G. Bagshawe, in a recent review of the available evidence as to the transmission of the disease, comes to the conclusion that, while occasionally species of Glossina * Gf. E. A. Minchin, " Investigations on the Development of Trypanosomes in Tsetse-Flies and other Diptera": The Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science, Vol. 52, Part 2, p. 180 (March, 1908). I Either T. dimorphon, Button and Todd, and T. vivax, Ziemann, or closely allied forms. J Of. R. Eustace Montgomery and Allan Kinghorn, Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology, Series T.M., Vol. II., No. 2, p. 129 (June 9, 1908). § Martini, however, working in Berlin with the parasite of nagana, found [apud Musgrave and Clegg, op.cit., p. 85) that this trypanosome was not transmitted from sick horses to healthy horses and asses, though the animals were standing next to one another, and Stomoxys calcitrans was jjresent in numbers on the sick horses. This, it may he remarked, was in accordance with Bruce's experience in Zululand (c/. Surgeon-Major [now Colonel Sir] David Bruce, A.M.S., " Further Report on the Tsetse-Fly Disease or Nagana in Zululand," p. 5. London : Harrison & Sons, 1897). II Montgomery and Kinghorn, loc. cit., p. 128. ^ In their "Conclusions" on p. 131 of their paper, Montgomery and Kinghorn speak of the Stomoxys as "Stomoxys calcitrans,'"'' but there is no evidence that the determination was made by a Dipterist. 153 other than G . palpalis, and " iSlotnoxi/s or evoii MoscjuitocH . . . iji rare instances " may act as transmitters, until there is more reason to suspect these flies than at present exists " they may be for practical purposes neglected."* Summarising what has been stated above, it may be regarded as proved that Stomoxys calcitrans, L., as also 8. nigra, Macq., and probably other species of the genus can convey trypanosomes directly from an infected to a healthy animal, when the bites follow one another immediately. On the other hand, the evidence tends to sliow that, when the interval between the bites is longer (the maximum period within which a bite is infectious has not yet been determined), although active trypanosomes may be present in the intestine of the fly its bite is innocuous. There is no indication that trypanosomes ingested by S. calcitrans pass through a developmental cycle, and they apparently disappear within forty- eight hours. With regard to diseases other than trypanosomiases, there are some grounds for tliinking that 8. calcitrans, like other biting flies, may occasionally disseminate the bacillus of anthrax, and, in Europe, it would appear that the fly is the intermediate host of a species of Filaria parasitic in cattle. Stomoxys nigra, Macquart. Dipteres Exotiques, 4e Supplement, p. 239, Tab. 22, fig. 5 (1850) : Memoires de la 8ociete Nationale des 8ciences, de V Agriculture et des Arts, de Lille. Annee 1850. P. 212 (Lille, Paris, 1851). Plate XIII., fig. 101. As already stated at the commencement of the notes on the foregoing species, 8tomoxys nigra, Macq. (of which 8. glauca, Griinb., is a synonym), and 8. calcitrans, L., are by far the most widely distributed representatives of their genus in Africa. In many localities the two species occur together, and though it is possible * Sleeping Sickness Bureau, Bulletin No. 2, p. 72 (December, 1908). 154 that the range of S. nigra does not extend so far to the north and south as that of *S^. calcitrans, throughout Tropical Africa at any rate the present species, which swarms in many localities, may be said to be generally distributed. Beyond the confines of Africa Stomoxys nigra, Macq., occurs in Reunion I., whence the type of the species was obtained, in Mauritius,* where it is beUeved to disseminate surra among domestic animals, and in the Seychelles Is., while what appears to be a form of the species has been found in Calcutta. The locahties, etc., of the African specimens of S. nigra in the National Collection are as follows. — Gambia : Salikenny, April 22nd and 23rd, 1903, "caught in stable " and "feeding on horse " [the late Dr. J. E. Dutton and Dr. J . L. Todd). Sierra Leone, August 12th, 1904, " on window " {Major F. Smith, D.S.O., R.A.M.C.). Ashanti : Kumasi, 1905 {Dr. H. A. Chaplin), and January 25th, 1905, "on horse" {Lieut.-Col. G. M. Giles, late I.M.S.); Obuasi, April 16th and 18th, and June 14th, 1906, June 5th, 1907 (" caught on oxen "), and June Uth, 1907, " in empty hospital " {Dr. W. M. Graham, W.A.M.S.). Gold Coast : Sekondi, October 16th, 1906 {Dr. W. M. Graham). Northern Nigeria : Zaria, 1904 {Captain F. U. Carr, A.V.D.) ; Ndeji Guzan, Nupe Province, June 12th, 1907 {E. C. Duff) ; Kef!i, Nassarawa Province, June 15th-24th, and September 30th, 1907 {Dr. R. F. Williayns, W.A.M.8.). Southern Nigeria : Lagos Province, on railway at 85 miles camp, June 7th, 1906, " plentiful in stable " {Dr. R. C. Hiscock, W.A.M.8., per Dr. W. H. W. Strachan, C.M.G.). Congo Free State : Nouvelle Anvers, September 26tli, 1903, and " caught on shot buffalo, four hours in canoe north of Sendwe, November 9th, 1904 " {Drs. Dutton, Todd, and Christy). Anglo-Egyptian Sudan : Kodok, Upper White Nile, July, 1907, "in swarms " {H. H. King) ; Dem Zobeir, Bahr-El-Ghazal, 1903 {Captain G. S. Nickerson, R.A.M.C., attached E. A., per the late Major T. E. N. Lewis, A.V.D.). East Africa Protectorate : Ngatana, 1893 {Dr. J. W. Gregory) ; Machakos, * Stomoxys lafonti, Picard {Bulletin de la Socii'tc Entomologique de France, Seance du 23 Janvier, 1907, p. 28), from Mauritius, is a synonym of S. nigra, Macq., as I have been able to convince myself by comparing specimens forwarded by M. Picard with the typo of S. nigra, kindly lent by Mr. G. H. Verrall, in whose possession it now is. Macquart evidently failed to notice that his type is discoloured, and the description of the abdomen as " d'un noir mat " is misleading. 155 June, 1898, caught in company with Stoinoxys calcitrans, L., sucking the blood of mules sutreiing from Tsetse-fly disease* [the IfUe Vety.-Captain A. G. Haslam, A.V.D.); Nairobi, April 5tli, IIJOU [Captain Ricltard Crawshay). Uganda : Entebbe, September 24th, 1903 {Dr. D. Nubarro), and 1004, " very common on windows of laboratory " [Captain E. D. W. Greig, I.M.8.). Zanzibar Protectorate : Pemba I., August 26th, 1899 [Dr. D. R. O'Sullivan- Beare). Nyasaland Protectorate : Lunyina River, Henga, 3000 ft., January 29th, 1894 [Captain Richard Crawslmy) ; exact locahty unknown, 1907 [Dr. J. E. S. Old). With reference to Stomoxys nigra in Ashanti Dr. W. M. Graham has kindly suppUed the following note : — " This species is the chief cattle-plague in Ashanti ; it frequently accompanies cattle in clouds, which, however, are partly composed of S. calcitrans. After feeding, these flies leave the cattle and settle on the leaves of neighbouring shrubs, where they can be easily caught ; the abdomens of gorged flies are visibly distended and of a dull red colour. I have sometimes observed streaks of blood on the leaves on which the flies have settled, and marks of blood are also seen on the cattle." Besides attacking cattle, S. nigra is a pest of horses and other domestic animals, and Dr. Graham remarks that it " also attacks man." Writing from Keffi, Nassarawa Province, Northern Nigeria, in October, 1907, Dr. R. F. Williams said of S. nigra : — " These flies were not seen during April and May, but were abundant in Keffi in June, when they swarmed on horses ; in September they were not nearly so plentiful. They do not worry human beings if able to attack a horse." Of Stomoxys nigra as observed in the Congo Free State by the members of the Expedition of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, 1903-05, Dr. J. L. Todd writes! • — " Specimens were caught about cattle and in a European house. It feeds vigorously." At Nau'obi, East Africa Protectorate, in April, 1900, Captain Richard Crawshay found this * Cf. Austen, "Monograph of the Tsetse-Flies," p. 304 (1903). f Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology, Series T.M., Vol. I., Xo. I. (February 1, 1907), p. 86. — The species is referred to in error as " Stomoxya alliens, Rond." ■" 150 species " plentiful, and a painful biter in the early mornings after sunrise." On this subject the reader is referred to what Stomoxys nigra ^^^ been written above, under the headings as a " Stomoxys calcitrans as a disease-carrier. . . . Disease-Carrier, qiJiq^ Trypanosomiases (in Africa),'' especially the concluding remarks on p. 153. It will be seen that, in experiments on the transmission of trypanosomes by Stomoxys in Uganda and other parts of Africa, S. nigra as well as S. calcitrans was used, so that the results must be taken as applicable to both species. As already stated, it has been shown by experiment that Stomoxys nigra, Macq., like S. calcitrans, L., " can convey trypanosomes directly from an infected to a healthy animal, when the bites follow one another immediately." Apart from the experimental evidence, such as it is, one or two observations with reference to S. nigra as a disease-carrier may be mentioned for what they are worth. Thus, a tube of specimens of this species in the Museum Collection, collected at Ngatana, East Africa Protectorate, by Dr. J, W. Gregory in 1893, bears the label in Dr. Gregory's handwriting : — " Blood-Sucking Flies (Killed our Camels)." In a letter written on November 11th, 1903, when forwarding the examples of S. nigra collected by Captain Nickerson at Dem Zobeir, in the Bahr-El-Ghazal Province of the Anglo- Egyptian Sudan, the late Major Lewis (who at that time had recently returned from the Sudan) stated that the flies were " responsible (either directly, or as vehicles of some organism) for a form of virulent disease among donkeys, mules, horses, and camels." It may be observed that, since Glossina morsitans, Westw., occurs at and in the vicinity of Dem Zobeir, the idea naturally suggests itself that the disease may have been nagana, and that if Stomoxys nigra was indeed concerned in its dissemination, the flies may have conveyed the trypanosome directly from animal to animal, as suggested by Montgomery and Kinghorn in the case of cattle-trypanosomiasis in North- Western Rhodesia.* In a subsequent letter, however. Major Lewis wrote : — " There is not * Vide supra, p. 152. 157 the slightest doubt that the flies were responsible for the clinical conditions among donkeys, mules, etc., to which I referred, although the symptoms of disease produced were not those of the so-called ' Horse-Sickness ' (as occasioned by the trypanosonir tlirough the medium of the Tsetse-fly)." It has already been mentioned that in Mauritius, where the species is extremely abundant, Stomoxys nigra is believed to disseminate surra among domestic animals (horses, mules, and cattle),* although as yet no systematic attempt seems to have been made to prove this by experiments.! Stomoxys omeg'a, Newstead. Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology, Series T.M., Vol. I. No. I. P. 87, Plate III., figs. 2, 3 (February 1, 1907). Plate Xlll., fig. 96 (male). This very distinct species, which owes its name to the fact that, in front of the transverse suture, the usual dark longitudinal stripes on the dorsum of the thorax are modified so as to form a figure somewhat resembling the Greek f), was described from specimens from the Congo Free State, and has hitherto been received only from West Africa. The localities, etc., of the eight examples (two males and six females) in the Museum are as follows. — Sierra Leone, August 12th, 1904, " on window-pane " {Major F. Smith, D.S.O., R.A.M.C.). Ashanti : Obuasi, May 22nd, 1906, July 28th and November 28th, 1907 (the two latter specimens " caught on * Cf. Lieut.-Colonol N. Manders, R.A.M.C., " Surra as it occurs in Mauritius '" : Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps, Vol. V., No. 5, pp; 623-626 (November, 1905). — In this paper the flv is erroneously referred to &s " Stomoxya geniculatus, de Bogot." •j- According to Drs. Alexander Edington ami Jolui Morton Coutts ("A Note on a Recent Epidemic of Trypanosomiasis at Mauritius": The Lancet, October 5th. 1907), "enormous numbers" of the trypanosome of this disease are readily found in the stomachs of specimens of Stomoxys nigra in Mauritius, vvliere the fly is known as_the m,ouche boeuf. The autliors in question add that : " M. Daruty de Grandpr(5, Curator of the Museum at ^lauritius, succeeded in infecting a healthy dog, to which he applied eight flies." No details, however, are given. 158 window"), and Kumasi, October 26th, 1907, "caught under leaf in bush-path " {Dr. W. M. Graham, W.A.M.8.). Congo Free State : " caught on shot buffalo four hours canoe journey above Sendwe, November 9th, 1904 "* {Drs. Button, Todd, and Christy). The latter specimens (a male and female) are among those referred to by Dr. J. L. Todd,f in the following note on Stomoxys omega as met with in the Congo Free State by the members of the Expedition of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine to the Congo, 1903-05. " This fly," writes Dr. Todd, " was seen only near water. Some were caught in canoes, others on a buffalo shot in a marsh, on which they were feeding. When the buffalo was first seen it was lying half-covered in water, no doubt to avoid the Stornoxys, which were present in almost incredible numbers." A remarkable feature exhibited by the male of this species, which is indicated as well as possible in the figure, is a fringe of long, fine, curled hair on the inner side of the first two joints of the front tarsi. The front tibiae, too, in the same sex, have a thickish fringe of straight hair on the posterior side of their distal halves. The female of 8. onfiega closely resembles that of 8. inornata, Griinb. (Plate XIIT., fig. 97), but may be distinguished by the narrower front, by the upper inner margins of the eyes bordering the front being exactly parallel instead of slightly divergent below, by the con- spicuously shorter proboscis, and by the marking of the anterior portion of the dorsum of the thorax in front of the transverse suture. In the female of the present species the O-like marking, though less distinct than in the male, is still visible ; in the female of 8. inornata, however, there is no such marking, but simply a broad clove-brown or black stripe on each side of the median grey one ; the clove-brown or black stripes have their inner margins straight, their outer margins convex, and at their anterior extremities are much narrower than where they meet the transverse suture. * With Stomoxys nigra, Macq., — c/. p. 154. t Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology, Series T.M., Vol. I., No. I., p. 88 (February 1, 1907). 159 Stomoxys inornata, Griinberg. Zoologischer Anzeiger, XXX. Bd., pp. 90-91, Fig. 15 (1900). Plate XIII., fig. 97. Stomoxys inornata, which is the darkest of all the species of Stomoxys at present described, has hitherto been collected only in Cameroon, where the types of the two sexes were obtained, and Ashanti, where a dozen examples (two males and ten females) were taken by Dr. W. M. Graham in 1907. The locahties, etc., of the latter specimens, which are the only ones at present in the Museum, are as follows. — Obuasi, July 15th, 28th, and 31st (including a pair in coittl), " on and under leaves in bush-path " ; Kumasi, October 21st, "on road beyond Amakoom " ; Yankuraasi, December 13th, " on leaf on road " ; and Adembra, December 20th, " on leaf in bush-path, 9.0 a.m." Dr. Graham has kindly supplied the following note on this species as met with by him : — " Common on all roads visited by me in Ashanti, but difficult to find owing to its dark colour and habit of hiding under leaves. I have always found it associated with Glossina palpalis, Rob.-Desv., to which it is very similar in habits, except that it does not settle on the ground. I have never seen it bite." In the male of *S^. inornata the median grey stripe on the anterior portion of the thorax is usually so much reduced as merely to appear like a small light spot on the front margin, while the grey stripe on each side, running from the humeral callus to the base of the wing, is also less conspicuous than in the female, and the wings are often much darker. Notes on the differences between the female of the present and that of the foregoing species have already been given in the remarks on the latter. 160 Genus LYPEROSIA, Rondani. Dipterologiffi Italicse Prodromus, Vol. I,, p. 93 (1856), and Vol. V., p. 230 (1862). Plate XIII., fig. 103. The genus Lyperosia is distinguished from Stomoxys by the palpi being broader, more or less flattened from side to side, and as long or almost as long as the proboscis, instead of filiform, not more than half as long as the proboscis or considerably shorter even than this, and not or scarcely projecting beyond the anterior margin of the buccal cavity. When the insect is not engaged in feeding, the palpi are closely applied to the proboscis and conceal it, as in the case of Glossina, palpi and proboscis together looking like a relatively rather stout horizontal process in front of the head ; it should be noted, however, that in dead specimens the proboscis almost invariably droops more or less, and may even assume a vertical position. The species of Lyperosia, which are few in number, are the smallest of blood-sucking Muscidse, and none of the six or seven* African species at present known exceeds 4 mm. in length. The coloration of the body is dull and inconspicuous, — grey, olivaceous- grey, or brownish, with darker longitudinal markings on the thorax ; L. punctigera, Austen (Plate XIII., fig. 103), is characterised in addition by the presence of dark spots on the abdomen. The eyes are narrowly separated above in the male, but are wider aj)art in the female ; the wings are hyaline or slightly brownish. These little flies often swarm on domestic animals (horses, cattle, and camels), and sometimes also attack human beings. f The European L. irritans, Linn., which has been introduced into the United States of America, is there known as the " Horn-fly," owing to its habit of clustering in a dense mass or ring about the base and on the concave side of the horns of cattle. * Lyperosia longipalpis, Roubaud {Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaires des Stances de la Socif'tt' de iHologie, 1906, jd. 896, fig. 2 — Senegal) is very possibly a synonym of L. miniita, Bezzi. t See below, p. 162. 1(11 Tim only species of LyperoHia of whicli llu; Life-history. hiology has yet been studied is the one just mentioned, the life-history of which has been investigated in America by Riley and Howard.* According to these authors, L. irriUiHs oviposits on freshly dropped cow-dung ; the eggs, which are " laid singly, and never in clusters, and usually on their sides on the surface of the wet dung ; seldom inserted in cracivs," are light reddish brown in colour, irregularly oval in shape, flattened on one side, and from 1.25 to 1.37 mm. in length, by 0.34 to 0.41 mm. in width. The newly-hatched larvce, which are pure white, descend into the dung ; when full-grown the larvae are dirty white in colour and 7 mm. in length. The posterior stigmatic plates, situate on the hinder surface of the terminal or anal segment, are large, very dark brown, nearly circular but with the adjacent inner margins almost straight, and have each acircular central orifice. On the ventral surface of the anal segment is " a dark yellow chitinous plate showing six irregular paired tubercles " ; this plate is surrounded by an area of rather coarsely granulated skin. Pupation takes place in the ground beneath the dung, at a depth of from half to three-quarters of an inch in the case of larvae in dung lying on fine sand. The pupariutn, or pupa-case, is of the normal Muscid type, dark brown in colour, barrel-shaped, and from 4 to 4.5 mm. in length, by 2 to 2.5 mm. in width. It is probable that Lyperosia does not often Lyperosia attack man, at any rate when it can get access and Disease, to domestic animals or big game, and it is not likely that flies belonging to this genus will prove to be disease-carriers among human beings. With regard to Lyperosia and animal trypanosomiases very little can yet be said, and for Africa at any rate there is no experimental evidence available. As has already been stated, Montgomery and Kinghorn have recently expressed the opinion that in North-Western Rhodesia at the present time trypanosomiasis is disseminated in herds of * Cf. Riley, C. V., and Howard, L. O., " Tlio Horn-Fly (J/cetnalobia aerrala, Robineau-Desvoidv) " [= Lyperosia irritana, Linn.]: Insect Life, Vol. II., pp. 93- 103, Figs. 11-15 (1889). % M 162 cattle by the agency of Lyperosia {sp. incert.) as well as Stomoxys* In Java, according to Schat, Lyperosia exigua, de Meijere, and Stomoxys calcitrans, Linn., play the chief part in the transmission of surra, t Lyperosia punctigera, Austen. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Ser. 8, Vol. III., p. 285 (1909). Plate XIII. , fig. 103. J As yet this species has been received only from the Uganda Protectorate, whence the Museum possesses two females (the co-types) from the Nile Province, June, 1906 {the late Dr. W. A. Densliam). The collector's field-note is as follows : — " These flies were noticed in great numbers in one camp only near the Nile, and were very troublesome to my boys early one sunny morning ; they clustered thickly on any small sore, and quickly filled themselves; though preferring to feed in this way, they seemed also to insert the proboscis into sound skin." The conspicuous abdominal markings seen in this species are an unusual feature in Lyperosia, and will enable L. punctigera to be distinguished without difficulty from any of its congeners hitherto described. * Cf. p. 152. t Of. P. Schat, " Verdere Mededeelingen over ' Surra ' " : Mededeel. Proefstation Oo.st-Java, 3o Ser., No. 44 (1903). J It should be noted that in the case of this figure the magnification is twice that of the other figures on Plate XIII. ciiApri:i{ VTT. Family H I IMM)P>()SCII)/E. i'LATE XJU., FICJS. D8-1UU. Apart from stnictiiral characters, the strange-looking flies belonging to tiiis family dillcr from all those previously dealt with in two peculiarly important respects, namely in their mode of life and method of reproduction. Instead of flying about freely like other blood-sucking flies, and as a general rule only settling on a Vertebrate in order to feed, the Hippoboscidae are permanent parasites of mammals and birds, seldom leaving their hosts under normal conditions *; stray specimens which occasionally alight on human beings usually at once endeavour to hide themselves in the hair or beard. Secondly, instead of laying eggs, the female Hippoboscid produces at intervals a single full-grown larva, which assumes the pupal state immediately after extrusion. In appearance the Hippoboscidae (which vary in length from a little over 3 mm. in the case of a small Lipoptena, to 11.5 nun. in that of a female Hippohosca camelina, Leach, witli abdomen distended by its offspring) are flat-bodied, horny-looking flies, with long wings in the known African forms, and powerful legs. While the head as well as the thorax is flattened and shining, the abdomen is sac-like, devoid of the ordinary indications of segmentation, and of a leathery aspect ; this however does not affect the general appearance, since the abdomen is usually entirely or partially concealid l.y the wings, which w hen not in use lie closed flat one over the otiicr lilvc the blades of a pair of scissors, as in the Tsetse-flies, and in this position project a considerable distance beyond the end of the body (see Plate XIII., figs. 98, 99). The general coloration of head and * In tlie case of Stcnoptcryx In'runiiinis, [>inn.. und Oxyptrriim pallidum, Lfiicli. which in tlio Pula'iirctic Region are jmrasitic respectively on the Hoii.se Martin (Chdidon iirbicn. Linn.) and the Swift ((h/pnelus apiiti. Linn.), the flies are found in the nests as well jvs on the birds themselves. .M 2 164 thorax is some shade of brown (yellowish-, reddish-, or clove-brown), and in Hippobosca (see Plate XIII.) the thorax is conspicuously mottled with yellow. The eyes are widely separated in both sexes ; the antennse, which are inserted in pits or depressions near the margin of the buccal cavity, are invisible from above in Hippobosca, but in genera the species of which are parasitic on birds they are large, prominent and scale-like, and bear long hair. In all Hippoboscidae the palpi are in the form of a pair of rigid chitinous lobes or narrower processes, which project downwards or forwards, and constitute a partial sheath or protection for the proboscis. The latter, which is composed of the same parts as that of the blood- sucking Muscidse, is curved, extremely slender, and protrusible, being entirely withdrawn from view when not in use. In appearance it presents a decided resemblance to the proboscis of the Tsetse-flies, and it also acts in a similar manner, its tip being armed with sharp chitinous teeth which enable the organ to pierce the skin of the host.* Leaving the genera Lipoptena and E chesty pus out of the question, the wings in all species at present known to occur in the Ethiopian Region are long, generally more or less infuscated, and have the principal veins approximated to the costal (anterior) border; the wings of species belonging to the genera Olfersia, Pseudolfersia, Lynchia, Ornithoica, and Ornithomyia, which are parasitic on birds, exhibit in addition less strongly developed veins running obliquely across the surface. The genus Lipoptena is represented in Africa by L. chalcomelcena, Speiser, which is parasitic upon ibex in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan and Egypt, and by the European L. cervi, Linn., which besides occurring in Algeria and Egypt, appears to have been introduced into South Africa with remounts during the Boer War ; in this genus the wings are shed by the female almost invariably, and by the male frequently, on reaching a suitable host, and like Melophagus ovinus, Linn, (commonly known in England as the " Sheep Tick "), which is entirely apterous, specimens of Lipoptena which have shed * For an account of the structure and mode of action of the proboscis, c/. F. H. Miiggenburg, " Der Riissel der Diptera pupipara " : Archiv f/ir Naturgeschichte, 58 Jahrg., I. Bd., pp. 287-332, Taf. XV., XVI. (1892). their wings j)ro.seiit little resemblance to an ordinary lly. The purely African genus EchesUjpus, Speiser, the three species of which at present known arc parasitic on antelopes, is clistinguisiud from Lipnptena by the absence of occlH. Melopluujus ovinus, which is a European parasite of sheep, has not yet been recorded from any African locality ; there can, however, be little doubt that in South Africa as in Xortli America it has been introduced with its host, and a brief search of the fleeces of any South African flock would probably sulHce to reveal it. The legs in Hippoboscidae are of moderate length, powerfully developed, and otherwise adapted for clinging to the hair or feathers of the host, the tarsal claws, which are of unusual strength and shape, having a special process (basal plate) at the base, with, in the bird parasites, with the exception of Ornithoica, the addition of a long accessory tooth. It is probable that the Hippoboscidse are descended from ancestors belonging to the Muscidae, which underwent modification in bodily structure as a consequence of the adoption of a parasitic mode of life. Whether, as in the case of phlebotomic Muscidse, both sexes suck blood is not yet known. The bites of Hippoboscidae do not seem to be painful, and to hosts accustomed to their presence little annoyance is apparently caused by these flies ; a strange horse or dog however is often greatly worried by a single Hippobosca, owing to the irritation produced by the movement of the fly through the hair. Except for some special reason, as when forced to seek other quarters owing to the death of their host, Hippoboscidae as a rule make little use of their wings, but on occasion their flight is quick and short, and they sometimes settle on and occasionally' bite human beings.* The mode of reproduction of Hi]jpobosei(l;e is Life-history. a further development of the process seen in the Tsetse-flies. Instead of, like ordinary Diptera, * See notes on Hippobosca vuiculata, I.cach. So far tis Africa i.s euncornod, no instance lias been recorded of a hinl-pnraaite. belonRing to this family luting man, but the author has been informed by Dr. D. Sharp that in the north of Scotlantl, according to Mrs. L. Duff Dunbar, of Thulaehan. Caithness, a gamekeoi>er in the employ of the lady mentioned was once severely bitten by Ornithoinyia lagopodis. Sharp, from Red Grouse. 166 laying eggs or producing a number of small living larvae, which lead a free and active existence, feeding until full-grown, the female Hippoboscid, as already stated, produces at intervals a single adult larva, which, as in Glossina, is retained within the oviduct of the mother and nourished until maturity by means of the secretion of a pair of greatly ramified glands. But while, except for the " black hood " at the posterior extremity, the Tsetse-fly larva on being deposited looks like an ordinary maggot, shows distinct segmentation, and is capable of crawling actively away to seek a hiding-place in which to pupate, the Hippoboscid larva on extrusion is a sac-like, ovoid or flattened globular body, which exhibits little or no trace of segmentation, and is entirely incapable of movement. On being deposited, a larva belonging to the present family is whitish or yellowish in colour, with (except in Melophagus) a conspicuous black area or cap (divided into six radial tubercles with intervening furrows in the genus Ornithomyia) at the posterior pole, and a small depression or papilla at the opposite one marking the position of the mouth. In the centre of the black cap (which is obviously reminiscent of the " black hood " of the larva of Glossina) are situate the posterior stigmata or respiratory apertures (in a deep pit in the larva of Ornithomyia), while on the ventral surface in the middle line, just in front of the black cap, is seen the small circular anus. Within a very short time after extrusion the larva becomes converted into a pupa without any modification in form, the change being indicated by the chitinisation and darkening of the larval skin to constitute the puparium or pupal envelope ; by this alteration in colour the contrast between the black cap and the remainder of the integument becomes obliterated. The perfect insect subsequently makes its escape by splitting off a cap from the anterior pole of the puparium, after the manner of the Muscidae. There is at present nothing to connect any species Hippoboscidae of Hippoboscidae with disease among human and Disease, beings, and from the mode of life of these flies it is > Chironomid^ psychodid.5: Tabantdje . . ASHANTI. * Culicoides grahamii, Austen. * Phlebotomus duboscqi, Neveu-Lemaire. * Chrysops longicornis, Macq. * ,, dimidiata, v. d. W'ulj). * „ distinctipennis, Austen. Tabanus (?) besti, Surcouf. * ,, biguttatus, Wied. ,, combustus, Big. ,, fasciatus, Fabr. ,, marmoratus, Surcouf. ,, secedens. Walk. ,, thoracinus. Pal. dc Bcauv. 184 MusciD^ HlPPOBOSCID^ Thaumastocera akwa, Griinb. Haematopota cordigera, Big. ,, grahamii, Austen. * ,, torquens, Austen. Hippocentrum trimaculatum, Newstead. * Stomoxys calcitrans, L. „ brunnipes, Griinb. (sellata, Griinb.). ,, inornata, Griinb. ,, nigra, Macq. ,, omega, Newstead. * Hippobosca maculata, Leach. Northern Nigeria. Tabanid^ . . * Chrysops distinctipennis, Austen. * ,, silacea, Austen. ,, sp. nov. Rhinomyza sp. nov. * Pangonia riippellii, Jaenn. ,, sp. — ? nov., near P. riippellii, Jaenn. Tabanus albipalpus, Walk. * ,, biguttatus, Wied. ,, ,, ,, form croceus, Surcouf. * ,, ditaeniatus, Macq. * ,, fasciatus, Fabr. ,, ,, ,, subsp. niloticus, Austen. ,, fuscipes, Ricardo. * ,, latipes, Macq. ,, sp. nov., allied to T. latipes, Macq. ,, laverani, Surcouf. ,, par. Walk. thoracinus, Pal. de Beauv. lb o MusciD^ HlPPOBOSCID^ * 'l\i])anus pluto, Wiod. * ,, ruficruH, Pill. , insignis, Lw. J , maculatissimus, Macq. * J , par, Walk. J taeniatus, Macq. 3 ustus, Walk. * Hsematopota decora, Walk. ,, duplicata, Lw. „ (?) obscura, Lw. ,, pulclirithorax, Austen. ,, recurrens, Lw. ,, ruficornis, Macq. MusciD^ . . * Stomoxys calcitrans, L. * „ nigra, Macq. ,, tseniata. Big. HIPPOBOSCID.5: * Hipp obosca rufipes. v. Olf . Lipoptena (Ornithobia) capensis, Walk. SlMULIID^ Tabanid^ Cape Colony. Simulium nigritarsis, Coquillett. * Cliyrsops calida. Walk, ciliaris, Walk, confluens, Lw.f lanigera, Lw. obliquefasciata, Macq. stigmaticalis, Lw. t Probably = C. obliquefasciata, Macq- 194 * Mycteromyia elegans, Big. ,, ensata, Big. Pronopes nigricans, Lw. Rhinomyza costata, Lw. ,, denticornis, Wied. ,, edentula, Wied. ,, pusilla, Schin. Silvius confluens, Lw. cuneatus, Lw. decipiens, Lw. glandicolor, Lw. pertusus, Lw. Cadicera chrysostigma, Wied. crassipalpis, Macq. hottentota, Lichtenstein. melanopyga, Wied. rubramarginata, Macq. quinquemaculata, Austen, gonia adjuncta, Walk, alboatra, Walk, angulata, Fabr. atricornis, Wied. bifasciata, Wied. bullata, Wied. caffra, Macq. charopus, Lichtenstein. chrysopila, Macq. conjuncta, Walk, flavipes, Macq. gulosa, Wied. leucomelas, Wied. multifaria, Walk, nobilis, Wied. rostrata, L. sexfasciata, Walk, spiloptera, Wied. * Pan Pangonia thoracica, Wied. (Diatominoura) barbata, Macq, „ fulvifascia, Walk. „ ffitliiopica, Tliuiih. ,, albifrons, Big. „ bracliirrliyncha, Big. „ brunnipennis, L\v. „ directa, Walk. „ lateralis, Fabr. ,, sua vis, Lw, ,, subfa.scia, Walk. „ parva, Walk. ,, umbratipennis, -' Ricardo. * Tab * inus africanus, Gray, albilinea, Walk, atrimanus, Lw. biguttatus, Wied. brunneus, Thunb. capensis, Wied. diurnus, Walk, fallax, Macq. fraternus, Macq. f III vi anus, Lw. (?) fuscinervis, Macq. gratus, Lw. hebes, Walk, infans, Walk, insignis, Lw. laevifrons, Lw. macrodonta, Macq. maculatissimus, Macq. nanus, Wied. obliquemaculatus, Macq. par, Walk. o2 196 MUSCFD^ Tabanus Sagittarius, Macq. sericiventris, Lw. subelongatus, Macq. sulcipalpus, Lw. taeniatiis, Macq. tenuicornis, Macq. ustus, Walk. variabilis, Lw. variatus. Walk. vexans, Lw. zoulouensis, Big. Hsematopota bistrigata, Lw. ,, circumscripta, Lw. * ,, decora, Walk. ,, duplicata, Lw. ,, imbrium, Wied. ,, obscura, Lw. ,, ocellata, Wied. ,, recurrens, Lw. ,, ruficornis, Macq. ,, scutellaris, Lw. ,, vittata, Lw. * Stomoxys calcitrans, L. Lyperosia potans, Bezzi. HlPPOBOSCID^ Hippobosca capensis, v. Olf. ,, equina, Linn. ,, rufipes, v. Olf. ,, struthionis, Janson. Echestypus sepiaceus, Speis. Pseudolfersia spinifera. Leach. Olfersia minor, Big. Lynchia capensis. Big. Ornithomyia fur, Schin. „ (?) laticornis, Macq. ,, platycera, Macq. TI. FRENCH COLONIES AND PROTECTORATES. Mauritania. Tabanid.ii: Tabanid.^ MUSCIDJE * Tabauus biguttatus, W'icd. * ,, ditaeniatus, Macq. * ,, latipes, Macq. * ,, toeniola, Pal. de Beauv. Senegal. * Chrysops longicornis, Macq. Pangonia senegalensis, Macq. Tab anus albicans, Macq. ,, aquilus, Surcouf. * ,, biguttatns, Wied. ,, chevalieri, Surcouf. ,, ditaeniatus, Macq. ,, fasciatus, Fabr. ,, fraternus, Macq. ,, guineensis, Wied. „ latipes, Macq. ,, laverani, Surcouf. ,, par, Walk. ,, pluto, Walk. ,, secedens, Walk. socialis, Walk. ,, sticticolis, Surcouf. ,, subangustus, Ricardo. ,, sufis, Jaenn. ,, taeniola, Pal. do Beauv. ,, unimaculatus, Macq. Philaematomyia insignis, Austen. Lyperosia longipalpis, Roubaud (? minuta, Bezzi). „ thirouxi, Roubaud. * * * * * * = L. 198 HlPPOBOSCID^ Hippobosca equina, L. * „ (?) rufipes, V. Olf. French Sudan (Senegambia-Niger). PSYCHODID^ * • • Phlebotomus duboscqi, Neveu-Lemaire. Tabanid^ . . * Tabanus africanus, Gray, * „ biguttatus, Wied. „ ,, ,, form croceus, Surcouf. „■ iinimaculatus, Macq, „ canescens, Surcouf. * „ canus, Karsch. * ,, ditaeniatus, Macq. * ,, gratus, Lw. * ,, latipes, Macq. * „ par, Walk. ,, sudanicus, Cazalbou. * ,, tseniola. Pal. de Beauv. * ,, variatus. Walk. * Haematopota decora, Walk. ,, pulchrithorax, Austen. Hippocentrum strigipennis, Karsch. ,, trimaculatum, Newstead. MUSCID^ . . • Stomoxys bouffardi,f Picard. HlPPOBOSCID^ Hippobosca camelina, Leach. SlMULIID^ . . Tabantd^ . . French Guinea. * Simulium damnosum, Theob. * Tabanus argenteus, Surcouf. * ,, biguttatus, Wied. boueti, Surcouf. t Quite unrecognisable from the description, but probably a synonym of either S. calcitrans, Linn., or S. nigra, Macq. 1 1)9 Tal * * inus chovalieri, Surc-ouf. fasciatus, Fabr. guineensis, Wied. kingsleyi, Ricardo. laverani, Surcouf. martini, Surcouf. pluto, Walk, ricardae, Surcouf. ruficrus, Pal. de Beau v. secedens, Walk, socialis, Walk, sticticolis, Surcouf. taeniola, Pal. de Beauv. unilineatus, Lw. variabilis, Lw. Hippocentrum strigipennis, Karsch. French Ivory Coast (Grand Bassam and Assinie). Tabanid^ Pangonia sernilivida. Big. Tabanus boueti, Surcouf. „ combustus, Big. ,, conformis, Walk. * ,, socialis, Walk. * „ thoracinus. Pal. de Beauv. Hsematopota cordigera, Big. Simuliid^ Tabanid^ French Congo and Gaboon. * Simulium damnosum, Theob. ,, reptans, L. * Chrysops dimidiata, v. d. Wulp. * ,, distinctipennis, Austen. Subpangonia gravoti, Surcouf. * Tabanus argenteus, Surcouf. ,, besti, Surcouf. 200 * Tabanus biguttatus, Wied. * canus, Karsch. combustus, Big. conformis, Walk, * congoiensis, Ricardo. * fasciatus, Fabr. * gratus, Lw. ianthinus, Surcouf. maculatissimus irroratus, Surcouf * obscurefumatus, Surcouf. * obscurissimus,t Ricardo. * par. Walk. * thoracinus, Pal. de Beauv. * pluto, Walk. * ruficrus, Pal. de Beauv. * secedens, Walk. * socialis, Walk. * taeniola, Pal. de Beauv. testaceiventris, Macq. * Haematopota decora, Walk. 5J inappendiculata, Big. Hippocentrum strigipennis, Karsch. j> trimaculatum, Newstead. MusciD^ Stomoxys bouvieri, Roubaud. ,, intermedia, Roubaud. Lyperosia pallidipes, Roubaud. HlPPOBOSCID^ Olfersia minor, Big. French Somaliland. Tabanid^ . . Pangonia subfasciata, Walk. * ,, zonata, Walk. t Perhaps = T. ianthinus, Surcouf. 201 II Tabanid.^]] . . MusciD^ . . HlPPOBOSCID^ GERMAN COLONIES. TOGOLAND. 'i'liiianibeutcs .siiigularis, (-Iriinb. * Tabanus fasciatus, Fabr. * ,, taeniola, Pal. de Beauv. * Stomoxys calcitrans, L. * ,, nigra, Macq. (glauca, Griinb.). Lyperosia minuta, Bezzi. * Hipj)obosca maculata, Leach. Tabanid.^ MusciD^ Cameroon. * Clirysops dimidiata, v. d. Wulp. * Tabanns aeneus, Surcouf. * ,, congoiensis, Ricardo. * ruficrus, Pal. de Beauv. * ,, secedens, Walk. Thaumastocera akwa, Griinb. Hsematopota cordigera, Big. Stomoxys brunnipes, Griinb. * „ inornata, Griinb. * „ nigra, Macq. (glauca, Griinb.). German South-West Africa.! HiPFOBOSCiD.^ . . * Hippobosca rufipes, v. Olf. Tabanid^ German East Africa. * Chrysops bicolor, Cordier Austen). ,, (?) longicornis, Macq. (nigriflava, t The Briti.sh Museum (Natural History) as yet possesses no material from German Soutli-West Africa. The species recorded above is the only one mentioned by Griinberg (" Die Blutsaugenden Dipteren." Jena: Gustav Fischer, 1907) as occurring in this colony. 202 MusciD^ Htppoboscid^ Silvius innotatus, Karsch. ,, oestroides, Karsch. * Pangonia elongata, Ricardo. yy mesembrinoides, Surcouf. „ (Diatomineura) sethiopica, Thunb. ,, ,, distincta, Ricardo. * Tabanus africanus, Gray. * ,, biguttatus, Wied. * „ fraternus, Macq. ,, imbecillus, Karsch. ,, impurus, Karsch. „ quadriguttatus, Ricardo. ,, taeniola, Pal. de Beauv. „ variatus, Walk. Holcoceria nobilis, Griinb. Haematopota albihirta, Karsch. alliiaudi, Surcouf. hieroglyphica, Gerst. hirta, Ricardo. maculiplena, Karsch. pulchrithorax, Austen. Parhsematopota cognata, Griinb. Stomoxys bilineata, Griinb. ,, brunnipes, Griinb. ,, calcitrans, L. (korogwensis, Griinb.). Ljrperosia schillingsi, Griinb. Echestjrpus parvipalpis, Speiser. Tabanid^ IV. ITALIAN COLONIES. Eritrea. Pangonia magrettii, Bezzi. * Tabanus maculatissimus, Macq. 208 MusciD.Ti: HiPPOBOSCID/E Stomoxys bninnipes, Griinl). * ,, calcitrans, L. ,, sp. incert. ,, tieniata, Big. ,, varii^es, Bezzi. Lyperosia potans, Bezzi. Hippobosca camelina, Lcacli. * „ maculata, Leach. Pseudolfersia mycetifera, Speis. (Italian Somaliland — see Somaliland.) PORTUGUESE COLONIES AND DEPENDENCIES. Prince's Island. Tabanid.^ . * Tabanus taeniola, Pal. do Beauv. Cabinda. Tabanid^e * Chrysops dimidiata, v. d. AViilp. * Tabanus canus, Karsch. * „ congoiensis, Ricardo. * ,, obscurefiimatus, Surcouf. ,, subvittatus, Ricardo. * ,, thoracinus, Pal. de Beauv. Haematopota laverani, Surcouf. Hippocentrum trimaculatum, New.stead. Angola. SlMULIID.^ Tabanid^ * Simulinm wolbiianni. Ronbaiid. Chrysops wellmanii, Austen. * Tabanus africanus, Gray. * „ biguttatus, Wied. 204 MusciD^ . . HlPPOBOSCID^ * Tabanus canus, Karsch. conformis, Walk, distinctus, Ricardo. ditseniatus, Macq. exclamationis, Giard. pluto, Walk, subvittatus, Ricardo. thoracinus, Pal. de Beauv. tritaeniatus, Ricardo. variatus, Walk, wellmanii, Austen. Hsematopota brevicornis, Austen. brunnipennis, Ricardo. desidiosa, Austen, fulva, Austen, hirsutitarsus, Austen, hostilis, Austen, inflaticornis, Austen, insidiatrix, Austen, molesta, Austen, pallidimarginata, Austen, semiclara, Austen, virgatipennis, Austen. * Stomoxys calcitrans, L. * Hippobosca rufipes, v. Olf. TaBANIDvE Portuguese East Africa. Chrysops fusca, Ricardo. Pangonia rondanii, Bertol. ,, rostrata, L. ,, v-album, Surcouf. * ,, zonata, Walk. ,, (Diatomineura) pallidipennis, Ricardo. * Tabanus africanus, Grav. 20.' Tab anus bi INDEX. Abyssinia, list of species, 205. adjuncta ( I'atipoiiia), (iO. aniens ('ral)aiuis), 110. africarnis (Tabanus), 81. agrcstis (Tabanus), 120. agric'ola (Tabanus), 120, AkIil-es-Skout, Arabic name of Phle- botonius (? papatasii) in Egypt, 18 (note). akwa (Thaumastocera), 66. albilinea (Tabanus), 112. Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, list of species, 206. Angola, list of species, 203. angulata (Pangonia), 60. Anthrax and Pangonia (in New Cale- donia), 58. argenteus (Tabanus), 114. Ashanti, list of species, 183. Aty lotus (subgenus of Tabanus), 120. nigromaculatus (= T. ditse- niatus), 120. Balaad (Raal ad, Baal fit), Somali name for Tabanus morsitans, 63, 117; applied to T. dita'iiiatus, and apparently indiscriminately to any small Tabanid, 119. barbata (Pangonia), 55. Basal cells (in wings of Tabanidae), 121 (note). Beccarimyia, 136 (note). glossina (believed not to be a blood-sucking species), 136 (note) beckeri (Pangonia), 63. bicolor (Chrysops), 48. biguttatus (Tabanus), 69, 85. billingtoni (Tatianus), 96. bouffardi (Stomoxys), 150 (note). brucei (Culicoides), 6. (Haematopota), 128. (Tabanus), 81. brumi)ti (Tabanus), 93. brunnescens (Ha'matopota), 122 (note), 127, brunnipennis (Pangonia (Diato- mineura)), 65. buUatifrons (Haematopota), 127. (J Cabinda, list of species, 203. Cadicera, external characters, 52. chrysostigma, 53. melanoi)yga, 53, quinquemaculata, 54. rubramarginata, 52. calcitrans (Stomoxys), 142. calida (C'hrj'sops), 49. camelina (Hipjiobosca), 168, 169. Cameroon, list of species, 201. canus (Tabanus), 110. Cape Colony, list of species, 193. capensis (Hi])pobosca), 168. (Tabanus), 117. Ceratopogon ca.staneus, not a blood- sucking species, 2 (note). Ceratopogonintp, 1 ; number of blood- sucking African species at present known, 2. cervi (Lipoptena), 164. chalcomelsena (Lipoptena), 164. Chimbu, Angoni name for Pangonia (Nyasaland), 58. Chironomidaj (Midges), 1. Chrysops, number of Ethiopian species ; external cliaracters, 42 ; life- history, 43. and disease, 44. bicolor (syn. Ch. nigriflava), 48. brucei, 50. calida, 49. dimidiata 47 ; native names Congo, 48. dimidiata and Ch, siiacea Nigeria (observations by Mr. Dudgeon), 43. distinctipennis, 46. funebris, 44. longicornis, 44. nigriflava (synonym of Cli color), 48. siiacea, 48. stigmaticalis. 45. chrysostigma (Cadicera), 53, Chrysozona (svnonym of Hacmatopota), 120 (note). (Hmatopota), 127. Pangonia, table of divisions of genus, 54 (note) ; bloodthirstinoss of females, 56 ; number of described Ethiopian species, 54 ; distribu- tion of African species ; proboscis, 55. and disease, Pangonia and an- thrax (in New Caledonia), 58. life-history not yet observed, 58. adjuncta, 60. angulata, 60 ; differences from P. conjuncta, 61. barbata, 55. beckeri, 63. (Diatomineura) brunni[)ennis, 65. comj^acta, 61. centralis (Nyasaland). obser- vations by Dr. J. E. S. Old, 62. conjuncta, 64. (Corizoneura) distincta, a plague of domestic animals in Gamoji, Galla Land, North-East Africa, in October (observations by Dr. R. E. Drake-Brockraan), 57. elongata, 59. fulvifascia, 55. gulosa, 62. Pangonia (Corizoneura) lateralis, 61. magrettii, 64 ; P. magrcttii and disease in ilcjuicstic animals, 58. oldii (Nyasaland), following nswala antolojie (.'Kpycoros me- lampus) ; attacking man (obser- vations by Dr. J. E. S. Old), 58. • rostrata, 61 ; in Capo Colony (Westermann's observations), 56, 62. riippellii, 64. sucking bloixl on H. tiie wing \. Fov in (observations by I)i N. Nigeria), 56. and disease in domestic animals, 58. sexfasciata, 59. (Diatomineura) suavis, 65. zonata, 59. Pangoniinte (subfamily of Tabanida*), names of African genera of, 41. " Pappataci " (Phlebotomus [)apatasii), 13, 15, 18. Pa{)pataci fever, disseminated by Phle- botonius papatasii, 18, 19 ; re- semblance of, to dengue and Mediterranean " Simple Continued Fever ", 19 ; percentage of Austro- Hungarian troops attacked by the disease each summer in South Herzegovina and Dalmatia, 19. par (Tabanus), 76. Parhiematopota, 66, 122 (note). cognata, 66, 122 (note). Pearson, Dr. Arthur, on Tabanidae, other biting flies and sleeping sickness, 40 (note). pertinens (Hasmatopota), 123, 126. I'hihematomyia, 137 ; structure of proboscis, 138; other characters of the genus, 139 ; a connecting link between Stomoxys group and non- biting Muscid;i3, 139. insignis, 137, 138, 140. Phlebotomus (" Sand-flies "), appear- ance and distinctive characters, 10 ; common in latrines in Herze- govina, Egypt, .\shanti, and Uganda, 15 ; distribution, 10 ; num - ber of African species at present uncertain, 19 ; habits, resting attitude, silent flight ; essentially nncturnal, attracted by artificial light, 1 1 ; sometimes bite bj' day ; usually bite indoors, rarely in the open ; severity of and irritation caused by bite ; penetrate or- dinary mosquito-curtains, and crawl imder bed-cl(}thes ; How- lett's observations in India ; cattle, dogs, frogs, and caterpillars attacked £is well as human beings, 12. 218 INDEX. Phlebotomus life-history, 13 ; metamor- phoses first discovered by Grassi ; latter's results confirmed by Howlett.inlndia, 14; chief breeding- places probably jJermanent latrines and privies, 15 ; breeding-places of African species not yet known, 14 ; meal of blood necessary to female after fertilisation, for de- velopment of eggs ; eggs of Ph. papatasii and Indian species, 15 ; food of larvie (Indian species), 15 ; (Ph. papatasii), 16. larva, 16 ; duration of life-cycle of Indian species, 17. • in Anglo-Egyptian Sudan (Kas- sala and Khartoum), 20. as a disease-carrier, 17. a possible disseminator of Surra in India, 18 (and note). duboscqi, 20 ; habitat as at pre- sent known, 20 ; differences from Ph. papatasii, 21. pajiatasii in S. Europe, 1 1 ; pain- ful bite ; reaction shown by in- dividuals bitten ; jDreference for particular regions of the body exhibited by the insects when biting (in Herzegovina), 13 ; life- history, 14-17. apparently a true host of the virus of Pappataci fever, 19. (? papatasii), common throughout Egypt except at Port Said (Dr. E. H. Ross), 20. pluto (Tabanus), 91. Portuguese East Africa, list of species, 204. Pressat, Dr. Andre, on Phlebotomus and Oriental sore in Egypt, 18. Prince's Island, list of species, 203. Proboscis, exceptional length of, in certain species of Pangonia, 55, 56. in Tabanidae, 37. in Philsematomyia, 138. and palpi in Hipjjoboscidse, 164. Pronopes, 41, 42. Pro-Simulium, characters of sub- genus, 23. Pseudolfersia, 164. Psychodidse (" Moth-flies "), characters of ; blood-sucking species belong to subfamily Phlebotominae, 9. pulchrithorax (Hsematopota), 122 (note). pusilla (Rliinomyza), 51. Q quadriguttatus (Tabanus), 94. quadrisignatus (Tabanus), 111. quinquemaculata (Cadicera), 54. R Rhinomyza, 50. costata, 51. denticornis, 51. edentula, 51. pusilla, 51. Rhodesia, North-Eastern, list of species, 190. North-Western, list of species, 190. Southern, list of species, 191. rostrata (Pangonia), 61, 62. rothschildi (Tabanus), 116. rubramarginata (Cadicera), 52. ruficrus (Tabanus), 92. rufipes (Hippobosca), 176. riippellii (Pangonia), 64. ruwenzorii (Tabanus), 117, 118. S " Sand-flies " (Phlebotomus), appear- ance, distinctive characters, dis- tribution, 19. a name sometimes applied to species of Simulium, 22. sanguinaria (Stygeromyia), 137. secedens (Tabanus), 96. Senegal, list of species, 197. septempunctatus (Tabanus), 73. Sergent, Drs. Edmond and Etienne, researches on Tabanida^ and try- panosomiases, 41, 70, 71, 105 (and note). Seroots (Seruts) or Seroot-flies (Ta- banidae), 36. sexfasciata (Pangonia), 59. sharpei (Tabanus), 72. Sierra Leone and Sierra Leone Protectorate, list of species, 182. silacea (Chrysops), 48. SiLVius, 42. similis (Hsematopota), 126. Simuliidae, 22. Simulium, appearance and external characters, 22 ; distribution and number of recognised species, 22 ; habits, swarms, 23, 24 ; life- history, 24. and disease, 25. losses among stock caused by, in jjarts of United States of America, 25. damnosum ; probably occurs throughout Equatorial Africa, 26 ; plague of, on right bank of Victoria Nile, in Busoga, Uganda, 27 ; severity of bite of, 27 ; near Ripon Falls, Uganda, a far worse plague INDEX. 219 than mosquitoes and dotriinontal to cattlo, 28 ; lifti-liistory and habits (H. H. King's obst.>r\at ions); hvrva ; pupa. 2'J. Simuiiuin grisi-ifoUis ; locally known aa Nimitti (Xinietta or Nometti) in Dongola I'rovint'O, Anglo-Egyp- tian Sudan, 31 ; most troublesome at simset and sunrise, 34 ; occiu"- renco on River Nile, in Anglo- Egyptian Sudan outside Dongola Province, 35 ; lite-history and habits (H. H. King's observations), 32. latipes, a European species that occin-s in South Africa, 25. welhuanni, in .Angola, 3U. Sleeping sickness and Tabanidie and other biting flies (excluding Glos- sina palpalis), 40 (note). not transmitted by Stomoxys under ordinary circum- stances, 153. socialis (Tabanus), 100. SoMALiLAND, list of species, 210. Soumaya or souma, a trypanosomiasis of horses and humped cattle at Segou (French Sudan), said to be propagated by Tabanus ditteniatus and T. biguttatus, 72. stigmaticalis (Chrysops), 45. Stomoxys ; number of Ethiopian siDccies, 141 ; life-history, 142. and disease, 142. boufTardi, 150 (note). calcitrans, 142 ; probably occurs throughout Africa ; exists through- out the greater part of the world ; localities of specimens, 143 ; mode of sucking blood (Newstead's observations), 145 ; Linnseus's observations, 145 (note) ; anatomy of mouth-parts and internal anatomy ; life-history, 146. as a disease carrier : an- thrax, filariasis, 148 ; sm-ra and other trypanosomiases, 14'J. the intermediate host and transmitter of Filaria labiato- papillosa of the ox, 148. and S. nigra and disease ; summary, 153. - and S. nigra by far the most widely distributed species of Stomoxys in Africa, 142, 143. - glauca {—^ S. nigra), 153. - inornata, 159. - lafonti (=^ S. nigra), 154 (note). - nigra, 153 ; except S. calcitrans, the most widely distributed repre- sentativ'e of its genus in Africa, 153 ; S. nigra in Ashanti (observa- tions by Dr. W. M. Graham), 155. Stomoxys nigra as a diseivse- carrier, 150. believed to disseminato surra in Mauritius, 154, 157 (and note) ; said to causi; disease among cami^ls in East .Africa I'rotoc- torat(^ (Dr. .J. VV. Greg(jry), and among ilonkeys, nudes, horses, and camels in the iiahr-el-Gha/.al (ob- servations by the late Major T. E. N. Lewis, A.V.D.), 15t>. omega, 157 ; secondary sexual characters in male ; differences between female and that of S. inornata, 158. • sp. capable of transmitting Try- panosdina cazalboui, the i)arasite of s(/inna, in French Sudan, 149. strigipennis (Hippocentrum), 134. Stygeromyia, characters of genus, 13G. maculcjsa, 13(>. sanguinaria, 137. suavis (Pangonia (Diatomineura)), 65. subangustus (Tabanus), 112. Subpangonia, 42, 55. subvittatus (Tabanus), 73. SiuTa and Phlebotomus (in India), 18. SwAVNE, Col. H. G. C, R.E., observa- tions on Tabanidae in Soraaliland, 63. Sycorax silacea, a Palaearctic blood- sucking species of Psychodida? (I'hlebotominae) ; occurrence of another (undescribed) blood-suck- ing species of same genus in Algeria, 9 (note). Tabanidae, external characters, 36-38 ; number of described, and of known Ethioi)ian species, 36 ; blood- thirstiness of females, 38. enemies of, 39. life-history, 39. and disease, 40. and other biting flies (excluding Glossina palpalis) and sleeping sickness, 40 (note). frequently asserted by natives to be responsible for diseases of animals, 41. Tal^aninse, 66. Tabanus, ninnber of describeil .African si)ecies, 67 ; plastic characters used in distinguishing species. 67 ; colour and markings of eyes in the liv'ing insects ; wide distribution of certain species ; called Man- grove-flies in West Africa, 68 ; rare in Cape Colony, <'>1 : life- history, 69. and disease, 70. ■ ajneus, 110. 220 INDEX. Tabanus africanus, 73, 81 ; believed by natives on parts of White Nile to cause camel-disease, 83 ; in Lorenzo Marques (observations by Mr. F. D. McMillan), 83. agrestis, 120. agricola, 120. albilinea, 112. argenteus, 72, 114. biguttatus, 69, 85 ; sexual di- morphism, 85 ; unusual abundance of males, 86 ; habits in Lorenzo Marques and Anglo - Egyptian Sudan, 88 ; life-history, 89. billingtoni, 96. bipartitus (^ T. fraternus), 101. bipunctatus (= T. ditseniatus), 120. blanchardi, (= T. secedens), 96. (note). brucei, 73, 81. brumpti, 93. brunnescens (^ T. secedens), 96 (note). canus, 110. capensis, 117. claritibialis, 120. congoiensis, 99. conspicuous, 107. denshamii, 108. disjunctus (possibly a form of T. ustus), 109. distinctus. 111. dit^niatus, extraordinarily wide distribution of, 118 ; T. ditse- niatus in Lorenzo Marques (obser- vations by Mr. F. D. McMillan), 120. diversus, 72, 112; diffei'ences from T. insignis, 113. ■ dorsivitta (= T. t^niola), 103. fasciatus, 69, 73, 78. fraternus (syn. T. bipartitus and T. trisignatus), 101. fuscipes, 120. gabonensis (= T. secedens), 69. gratus, 114. insignis, 72. kingsleyi, 98. latipes, 73, 84. laverani, 115. lemairei, 99. liven tipes, 107. macrops (= T. tseniola), 103. maculatissimus, 91. irroratus, 91. marmoratus, 95. morsitans, 117. multipunctatus (= T. canus), 110. nigrohirtus (= T. socialis), 69, 101. nigrostriatus, 107. nyassD, 109. Tabanus obscurefumatus, 94. obscurissimus, 69, 73. par, 76. ■ pluto, 91. quadriguttatus, 94. quadrisignatus. 111. rothschildi, 116; differences from T. morsitans, 117. rubicundus {=^ T. variatus), 105. ruficrus, 92. ruwenzorii, 117, 118. secedens, 96 ; in Ashanti (obser- vations by Dr. W. M. Graham), and in French Congo (observations byM. Roubaud), 98. septempunctatus, 73. serratus (= T. variatus), 105. sharpei, 72, 113. ■ socialis, 100 ; possibly identical with T. testaceiventris, 101. socius (=r T. taeniola), 103. stigma. Walk., nee Fabr. (=: T. tenuicornis), 117. subangustus, 112. subvittatus, 73. taeniatus, 117. tseniola (most widely distributed of African Tabanidae), 69, 102 ; varia- tion in abdominal marking, 102 ; said to kill camels in French Congo and Upper Egypt, 72, 104. tarsalis (= T. nyasao), 110. temperatus (= T. ustus), 108. tenuicornis, 117. testaceiventris (probably = T. secedens or T. socialis), 69. thoracinus, 69, 74. trisignatus (^ T. fraternus), 101. ustus, 108. variabilis, 116. variatus, 105 ; perhaps = T. Sagittarius, 106. virgatus (= T. taeniola), 103. wellmanii, 72, 113. taciturna (Haematopota), 124. taeniatus (Tabanus), 117. taeniola (Tabanus), 69, 102. tenuicornis (Tabanus), 117. Ter Abbiot, native name for Tabanus ditaeniatus near Lake Chad, 119. Azarak, native name for Tabanus taeniola near Lake Chad, 103. Ter-el-gufar, native name for Tabanus africanus on parts of White Nile, 83. testaceiventris (Tabanus), 69. Thaumastocera, 66. akwa, 66. Therioplectes (subgenus of Tabanus), 117. Third longitudinal vein (in wings of Tabanidae), 121 (note), thirouxi (Lyperosia), 140. INDEX. 221 thoracinus (Tabanus), 09, 74. Tliriainbeutes, 42. ToGOLAND, list of specios, 201. torqiions (HaMnatopota), 131. Touna (nati\'o name of Chrysoi)S cliiaicliata in Frcncli Congo), 48. Tracheal (or rectal) gills of Simulium larvae, 2G (note). Transvaal, list of species, 191. trimaculatum (Hippocentrum), 134, 135. Trypanosoma brucoi (the parasite of nagana) can bo conveyed mechanically by either Stomoxys nigra or S. calcitrans, or porha])s by both (observations by G. ^lartin, Lebreuf, and Roubaud in Frencli Congo), 1.50. cazalboui (the parasite of souma, a disease causing great mortality among cattle, liorses, and donkeys in French Sudan) and Stomoxys sp. (investigations by Dr. G. Bouffard), 149. gambiense (the parasite of sleep- ing sickness) and Stomoxys ; no experiments on direct transmis- sion yet made ; fate of the parasites when ingested by these flios, 151. theileri (cause of gall- or bile- sickness among cattle in Trans- vaal), transmitted by Hippobosca rufipes and H. maculata, 151, 176. Trypanosomiasis in North-Western Rhodesia, and Stomoxys and Lyperosia (statements by Mont- gomery and Kinghorn),152. U Uganda Pxiotectorate, list of spociea, 187. ugandic (Hiematopota), 132. unicolor (HxMnatopota), 12(1. ustus (Tabanus), 108. variabilis (Tabanus), 110. variatus (Tabanus), 105. versicolor (H.i|)|)ocontruni), 134. vittata (Hajmatopota), 122 (note). W Wayam Fly, native name for sjjecies of Tabanus (including T. latipes and T. ticniola), near Pawa, Katsina-Sokoto Boundary, Northern Nigeria, 85. wcllinanii (Tabanus), 113. (Simulium), 30. Wings, resting position of, in Tabanidse, 38. ' Yembe (native name of Chrysops dimidiata in French Congo), 48. Zanzibar Protector.\te, species, 187. zonata (Pangonia), 59. list of i I'LATl-: 1. 'I Mr / W \ 1. /^ >» V f 3. /. 1. CuMCOiDES MiLNEi, Amteu. 3. CULICOIDES GUAHAMII, Austeu. 5. SlMULIUM LATIPES, AJy. 7. SlMULIUM WELLMANNl, Rouhaitd. S. 2. CuLicoiDEs BKUCEi, Av»ten. 4. PuLKBOTOMUS DtnoscQi, yfveii- LeitMi re. 6. SlMULIUM DAMNOSUM, Theoh. 8. SlMULIUM ORLSEICOLLIS. Becker. PLATE II. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 9. CnuYSOPS FUNEBnis, AnxtPH. 11. Chuysops stk;matu"alis, Lh\ 13. ChRYSOPS DIMIDIATA, V.d. Wlllp. 1.5. Chrysops silacea, Austen. 16. 10. ClIKY.SOPS LON<;iroRXIS. J/'KVf. 12. Chrysops DLSTiNrTiPKNNis, Avsfen. 14. Chrysops xkjriflava, Austen. 16. Chrysops caliua, Walk. PLATE III. 17. 18. 19. 20. \ i / 21. 22. 23. 24. 17. Chrysops BRUCEi, Aiisten. 19. Cadiceha rubra.marginata, Macq. 21. Cadicera chrysostigma, Wied. 23. Pangonia sexfasciata, Walk. 18. Rhinomyza denticornis, Wied. 20. Cadicera melanopyga, Wied. 22. Cadicera quinquemacclata, Aunten. 24. Pangovia elon'gata. Ricardo. PLATE IV. 25. 27. 26. 28. 29. 30. 31. 25. Panuonia zonata, Wal/c. 27. Pangoxia angulata, Fabr. 28. Pangoxia com pacta, Auaten. 30. Pangoxia suavis. Lw. 2G. PAXf.OXIA ADJUXCTA. Walk. 29. Paxgoxia (iULosA, Wied. 31. Paxgoxia huunxipenxis, Lh: I PLATE V. 32. 34. 36. 33. \ y \. 35. -■^^ '^^ I r- J f K \ 37. i \(. 38. .39. 32. Pangonia beckeri, Bezzi. 31. Pang6nia ruppellii, Jaenn. 36. Tabaxus SEPTEMPUNCTATU.S, Ricardo. 38. Tabanu.s tiioracinus, Pal. de Beauv. 33. Pavgonia conjuxcta. Walker. 35. Tabanus insigvis, Z/0^2<-. 37. Tab.\nus obscurissimus, Ricardo. 39. Tabanu.s par, IFa/A-^r. PLATE VI. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 46. 40. Tab.vxus fasciatus, Fabr. 42. Tabanus afuicanus, Gray. 44. Tadaxus mouTTATUs, Wied., ^ . 46. Tabaxus maculatissimus, Macq. 41. Tauaxl's bhlcei, Ricardo. 43. Tabaxus latipes, Maaj. 45. Tabaxus bkjuttatus, Wied., ^ 47. Tabaxus pluto, Walk. PLATE VTI. •48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 48. T.AiiAXU.s RUFICRUS, I'al . df Beauv. 50. Tabanus obscurefumatus, Surcovf. iy2. Tabanus marmoratus, Surcouf. 54. Tabanus secedens, Walk. 49. Tauams hhumpti, Surcouf. 51. Tabanus QUADRif;uiT.\TU.s, Kicardo. 53. Tabaxus BiLLiXfJTOXi, Xeicstecid. 55. Tabaxus kixgsleyi, Ricardo. PLATE V^TTI. ^?^ 56. 57. 58. 59. 60. 61. 62. 63. 56. Tabanus congoiensis, Micardo. 58. Tabanus fraternus, Macq. 60. Tahanus nuirostriatus, Ricardo. 62. Tabaxus conspicuus, Ricardo. 57. Tabanu.s SUCIALI.S, Walk. 59. Tabanus variatus, Walk. 61. Tabanus taeniola, Pal. de Beauv. 63. Tabanus liventipes, Surcoitf. PLATE IX. 64. 65. 66. 67. 68. \^/ 69. 70. 64. TabaNUS DEN.SHAMn, Austeti. 66. Tabanus xyasae, Ricardo. 68. Tabanus canus, Karsch. 70. Tabanus subangustus, Ricardo. 71. 65. Tabanus ustus, Walk. 67. , Tabanus aeneus, Surcouf. 69. Tabanus (iUADRisioNATus, Ricardo. 71. Tabanu.s alhii.ixea, Walk. PLATE X. 72. 73. 74. 75. 76. 77. 78. 72. Tabanus diversus, Ricardo. 74. Tabanus wellmanii, Austen. 76. Tabanus gkatus, Lw. 78. Tabanus variabilis, Z?/-. 73. Tabanus sharpei, Aiixten. 75. Taijanus aroenteus, Snrcouf. 77. Tabanus laverani, Hnrcouf. 79. Tabanus koth.schildi, Snrcouf. PLATE Xr. ><\. .S2. 84. 86. N/i. 87. 80. Tabanus taexiatus, Mem/. 82. Tabanus ditaexiatus, Afacq. 84. Haematopota fulva, An.sten. 86, Haematopota pallidipk.vnis, Au.'if.fo. 81. Tabanus ruwe.vzokii, Ricardo. 83. Tabakus claritibialis, Ricardo. >!.'». HaKMATOPOTA DK.VSUAMH. Ausffii 87. Hakmatopota bullatikko.ns, Austen. PI.A'l'K XII. '^;^. 90. 92. \i^ "^ 89. 91. '.):',. 94. 95. 88. Hae.matopota imucEi, Anaten. 90. Haicmatopota mact.\n.s, Austen.. 92. Haematopota torquen.s, Aitsten. 94. Haematopota laces.sens, Aimteu. 89. Haematopota decoha, Wii/A:. 91. Haematopota cokonata, AksIph. 93. Haematopota UfJANDAB, Ricardo. 90. HiPPOCENTKUM VEKSICOLOK, An.Hti'U. PLATK Xm. 96. i( . 98. 99. ■^ 100. 101. 102. 10.3. 96. Stomoxys omeo.a, Netvstead. i 98. HiPPOBOSCA STRUTHiONis, Janson. 100. HiPPOBOSCA UUFIPES, vort Olfers. 102. Stomoxys calcitr.\ns, Linn. 97. .Stomoxys inohnata, GrUaberg. 99. HiPPOBOSCA MACULATA, Leach. 101. Stomoxys .vmra, Macq. 10.3. Lyperosia punctigera, Austen. I v«- ' .%^' r'# ♦ •» . -^ Is *'•■■- * pf^-'^lf^ *, <^ I ' ^ ' ■-«►«»" :-.•--*> -•?- •'^. ** 'i » ,# 1., 4 - \ " % 1^ i^ -C\ ^s :u ^ C5 t>3 '-i t*i 53 Ci .HI iniS?m'.*'^ INSTITUTION LIBRARIES 3 ^oaa D05mb7a 2 ,,, . nhent QL535 6A8X "lustrations of African bUj lucking f