Insects abroad : being a popular account of foreign insects, their structure, habits, and transformations . Flies, Gad Flies,or Clegs. Their months are developed into a piercing appa-ratus, which is so powerful that it can be driven through thetoudi skin of cattle. Theseinsects attack man as wellas beast. They made mylife a burden to me in theNew Forest, until I repelledthem with paraffin, evendriving their beaks throughthick woollen clothing. Our species are badenough in the way of an-noyance, but some of theforeign species are verymuch larger than ours, andhave proportionately power-ful mean
Insects abroad : being a popular account of foreign insects, their structure, habits, and transformations . Flies, Gad Flies,or Clegs. Their months are developed into a piercing appa-ratus, which is so powerful that it can be driven through thetoudi skin of cattle. Theseinsects attack man as wellas beast. They made mylife a burden to me in theNew Forest, until I repelledthem with paraffin, evendriving their beaks throughthick woollen clothing. Our species are badenough in the way of an-noyance, but some of theforeign species are verymuch larger than ours, andhave proportionately power-ful means of offence. One of the most important genera of these Hies is Pangonia, severalexamples of which will be given. The first is Pangonia fulvi-thorax, a native of Brazil. The ground colour of this insect is shining black-brown, butthe thorax is covered with a dense coating of golden yellowdown, having a silken gloss, and looking something like yellowvelvet. The abdomen is without the down except at the endand on the sides, where the yellow hairs are rather sparinglyplanted. The wings are shining Fie. 491.—Pangonia , with yellow down.) On Plate XX. Fig. 1 is shown Pangonia longirostris, a nativeof India. Its colour is brown, like that of our common Drone Fly, barredwith yellow. Its specific name signifies long-beaked, and,indeed, the proboscis is so long in proportion to the body, that INSECTS ABKOAH. the insect is said to be incapable of attacking cattle except onthe wing. In common, however, with many of the Tabanid;e,it draws much of its nutriment from flowers. The proportionatedimensions of the proboscis may be gathered from the fact thatwhereas an ordinary specimen measures ten-twelfths of an inchin length, the proboscis is two inches and a half long. Another of these long-beaked insects is here given, which, asits name implies, is a native of Amboyna. It is a pretty insect,
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectinsects, bookyear1883
