of which I collected in North Queensland. The North American Genus
_Scatopse_, the larvae of which breed in all kinds of decaying matter
and in sewers, is represented by two species, of which _Scatopse
fenestralis_ is so common about Sydney that Skuse says: “In the spring
months it is scarcely possible to find a window without one or two
specimens, while I have frequently seen hundreds swarming on the inside
of shop windows in the city.”
Family 3. Mosquitoes.
CULICIDAE.
No insect pests are better known or more world wide in their
distribution than mosquitoes. As might be expected, they are abundant
in tropical countries, yet one would hardly expect them to be much of
an annoyance in the temperate regions. Yet in Lapland, and even farther
north, they worry the inhabitants and the reindeer all through their
brief summer.
[Illustration: Plate XXVII.--DIPTERA.
Family CULCIIDAE.
1. _Culex fatigens_ (Wiedermann). Larva.
2. _Culex fatigens_ (Wiedermann). ♀.
3. _Culex fatigens_ (Wiedermann). Wing.
4. _Anopheles annulipes_ (Walker). ♀.
5. _Anopheles annulipes_ (Walker). Wing.]
[Illustration: _Plate XXVII.--DIPTERA._]
They are insects with long slender legs; delicate narrow wings folded
down over an elongate body; the head is provided with a proboscis
projecting below. The proboscis is adapted for sucking blood, though
many of the bush species seldom or never taste blood and obtain their
nutriment from the sap or moisture upon plants. The male mosquito
is a more delicate creature than the female, furnished with plumose
antennae; he does not bite, but hides away in dark sheltered corners
taking no food in his short life of four or five days, but has a
low droning hum, noticeable when a number are disturbed. The larger
females on the other hand swarm into the house, and bite whenever
they get the chance. She lays her eggs in little boat shaped masses
of elongate eggs, which within 24 hours give birth to larvae that
are often called water-fleas or “wrigglers.” Thread-like in form at
first, the “wriggler” has a rounded ciliate head, and the tip of the
body is provided with a pair of tubular breathing appendages. They
move about with a series of jerks, always coming to the surface head
downward; they increase in size rapidly and in seven or eight days are
full grown, when they change into pupae, the creatures becoming quite
different; the head and thorax are drawn up into a rounded mass with
two trumpet shaped horns, which are its new breathing tubes, rising
upon the sides. The abdominal segments are short and turn downward;
and though it does wriggle slightly, it usually rests in an upright
position floating close to the surface; it remains in this state for
two or three days, when the pupal skin splits along the top of the
head, and the perfect insect emerges, using the floating skin as a raft
from which to rise into the air and fly away.
Only 9 species of mosquitoes had been described from Australia when
Skuse commenced his work on these insects in the Macleay Museum
Collections (Pro. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. 1889), where he listed all the
known species and added 19 new ones. Since then Theobald, in his
“Monograph of the Culicidae of the World” 1900–1903, with a great deal
more material to study, revised the genera, made several of Skuse’s
species synonymous, and described others, bringing our list to about 34
species.
The typical Genus _Culex_ contains 21 species scattered all over
Australia; several are cosmopolitan and have been introduced from
abroad. Our common house mosquito, that appears in the early summer,
is _Culex albo-annulatus_, a moderate sized species with the reddish
thorax densely clothed with brownish golden scales, traversed by five
very fine lines; it has regularly white banded legs. It was described
by Macquart in 1732, and ranges from Southern Queensland to Sydney,
Mittagong, and the Blue Mountains N.S.W. _Culex fatigans_ is widely
distributed over Australia: _C. macleayi_ and _C. skusei_ according
to Theobald are only sub-species or varieties; it is one of the
cosmopolitan mosquitoes also found in America, Africa and Asia, and
was probably introduced into this country in the water tanks of the
old sailing vessels many years ago. After New Year a smaller, darker
mosquito is the most annoying about Sydney; this has been described by
Theobald under the name of _Culex marinus_; its larvae were discovered
by Dr. Bancroft, Queensland, breeding in salt water. It also flourishes
freely in any stagnant water left in tanks, buckets, or water-holes,
and has a wide range down our eastern coast.
Four species of the Genus _Anopheles_ are found in Australia; these
insects have long palpi with clubbed or spatulate tips, and dark
spotted wings. _Anopheles annulipes_, described by Walker, said to
be identical with Skuse’s _A. musivus_, is found about Sydney and
Newcastle N.S.W. ranging northward; the members of this genus are well
known as the mosquitoes that transmit the germs of malarial fever, and
have a wide range over the world. The important results that have come
from the study of the relation of tropical fevers to mosquito bites,
have led to the collection and description of these insects from all
quarters of the globe. _Mucidus alternans_, one of our largest species,
is thickly clothed with grey and light brown scales and hairs which
give it a striking appearance. It is a day flying species famous for
its biting powers; it has a wide range; in the Maitland district N.S.W.
about the Hexham swamps it is locally known as the “Hexham Grey”; in
Queensland it is sometimes called the “Scotch Grey.” I have also taken
it at Bourke on the Darling River N.S.W. Skuse described this species
as _Culex hispidosus_, but Westwood’s name, _C. alternans_, has a prior
claim.
_Stegomyia notoscriptus_ is one of the small dark mosquitoes that bite
so sharply just at dusk in our gardens around Sydney in midsummer,
and has a wide range from Adelaide S.A. to Queensland. It belongs to
the same genus as the dreaded Cuban Yellow-fever Mosquito, _Stegomyia
fasciata_, which has been introduced into Hawaii. Theobald has in
the last volume of his Monograph formed a new Genus _Skusea_ for the
reception of two Queensland species and a third from Africa.
Family 4. Sand-flies.
CHIRONOMIDAE.
This group comprises a number of small flies which have the head
furnished with a fleshy proboscis; the slender antennae adorned with
fine hairs, thickest upon the male; and the ocelli wanting. Their wings
are usually narrow; and many of the large species have the general
appearance of mosquitoes.
The members of this family are very extensive and world-wide in their
range; the larvae of the typical Genus _Chironomus_ live chiefly
in stagnant water. They sometimes swarm in such numbers in the North
American lakes that they form the chief food of the fresh-water fish.
In England on account of their colour they are known as “blood-worms.”
Some species live in salt water, and others breed in excrement and
dung. The perfect insects are easily collected with a sweeping net in
the vicinity of swamps and watercourses.
Skuse has described 64 species from Australia (Pro. Linn. Soc. N.S.W.
1889), previous to which only 8 species, described by Messrs. Walker
and Macquart, had been recorded. The family is divided into a number of
genera, of which _Chironomus_ includes 21 species of the more typical
slender-bodied midges, and the Genus _Ceratopogon_ 17 species of our
vicious “Sand-flies.” These pests are also found in Great Britain and
in North America, ranging as far south as Chili.
_Ceratopogon molestes_, described by Skuse, is our common “Sand-fly,”
though there are others probably quite as annoying if not so abundant.
It is a tiny little dark coloured midge, so quiet and small that it
is usually felt before it is seen. There is another very large grey
“Sand-fly” I have met with in the interior of N.S. Wales on the Darling
River that frequents grassy watercourses and flies straight at the
hands or face like a wasp.
It has been reported from Central Queensland that after the great flood
and abundant growth of grass (1905) the sand-flies increased in such
numbers, that they caused the blindness and death of a great number of
marsupials, through biting them in the eyes.
Family 5. Crane-flies.
TIPULIDAE.
The Crane-flies or Daddy-longlegs are a large family with long slender
legs, from which they take their popular names, and might be described
as exaggerated mosquitoes that do not bite. They have the usual small
head and long thread-like antennae (in some groups the latter are
clothed with long hairs, in others short and feathered); in most
species the ocelli are wanting. The thorax has a V-shaped transverse
suture, and the well developed wings have a complete venation. They
are to be found in all situations among low scrub, but prefer the
shelter of cliffs, or tree trunks in damp gullies, often resting in
considerable numbers in retired spots during the day, where they can
easily be captured. They require to be killed and mounted in the place
of capture to secure good specimens, as their legs drop off very
readily, and on this account are not a popular group with the ordinary
collector. The larvae live in the ground or among decaying vegetable
matter.
They are divided into two large groups, characterised by the possession
of long or short palpi, the _Tipulidae brevipalpi_ and _Tipulidae
longipalpi_; about 20 species had been recorded from Australia when
Skuse’s Monograph, “Diptera of Australia Pt. VII.” (Pro. Linn. Soc.
N.S.W. 1889) appeared; in this he added over 80 new species.
The Painted Crane-fly, _Gynoplistia bella_, described by Walker in
1835, is one of our commonest species, frequenting flowers and low
scrub in the early summer months. It is a very distinctly marked black
and orange yellow fly, the wings thickly barred and mottled with the
former colour; and is one of the short-legged species. It has a wide
range from Western Australia and Tasmania to N.S. Wales; the genus is
represented by 17 described species in Australia.
The Long-horned Crane-fly, _Macromastix costalis_, has a wide range
from Tasmania to Queensland. In the neighbourhood of Sydney they are
commonly found resting among the low scrub. It has a uniform dull brown
tint with clear transparent wings, striped along the front margin with
dull brown, and can be easily recognised from its large size, with
the long slender antennae three times the length of the wings in the
male, and its curious darting flight when disturbed. It was described
by Swederus as _Tipula costalis_ in 1787, and has been renamed half a
dozen times since. _Clytocosmus helmsi_ was described by Skuse from
specimens obtained at Mt. Kosciusko; it is a large handsome fly with
the stout thickened abdomen black, and bordered or mottled along the
segments with white; the wings are semitransparent shaded with yellow;
the head and thorax are reddish yellow.
The Genus _Semnotes_ contains two very large and handsome crane-flies,
both of which were originally described by Westwood. They are giants of
the family, with a large thorax, and swollen abdomen narrowed slightly
into a waist, coming out broad and rounded to the tip; the general
colour is bright yellow mottled with black, with semitransparent wings.
_Semnotes ducalis_ has dark markings on the wing, and is the rarer
species. It is recorded by Westwood from North Australia, and by Skuse
from Manly, N.S.W. _S. imperatoria_ is found in Victoria, about Sydney
and the Blue Mountains N.S.W.; it is slightly larger than the former,
and can be easily distinguished by the very long tarsi, the plain
wings, and the different markings on the body.
Family 6. Soldier Flies.
STRATIOMYIDAE.
These are flat-bodied flies with narrow strongly veined wings;
3-jointed antennae; and the pronotum furnished with slender spines.
Comstock has called them “Soldier Flies” on account of the bright
coloured stripes with which many species are marked. The larvae of most
of these flies live in decaying vegetable matter, but some are known to
be carnivorous in their habits.
_Neoexaireta spinigera_ is one of our commonest species, often to be
found in the early summer months resting on the window pane with its
broad hind legs flattened out; it is very easily captured. It is a
slender shining black fly about 1 inch in length, with banded legs;
the sides of the body fringed with white hairs, and the apical half
of the wings clouded with black enclosing a small white blotch; the
pronotum is furnished with four slender spines standing out from the
hind margin. The larvae are usually found under damp rotting bark or
decaying vegetable matter, and are elongate flattened brownish and
distinctly segmented creatures, with narrow horny heads standing out
in front like a stalk; they are sluggish creatures with very little
movement. I figured and described a species (doubtfully) under the
name of _Ephippium albitarsis_ in my “Entomology of the Grass-trees”
(Pro. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. 1896) with somewhat similar larvae breeding
in the decaying stems of these trees. The little black fly measures
about ⅓ of an inch in length; it has white tarsi and dusky wings; the
pronotum has the usual short spine on either side; and the legs are
stout. _Odontomyia stylata_ is an elongate, broad, flattened, bronzy
green fly with the outer edges of the abdomen light green; and the long
pointed wings are folded down over the back; the head is very broad;
the rounded thorax is long, furnished with two small spines behind the
pronotum, and the abdomen is broadly rounded at the tip. It is a common
rather large fly about ½ an inch in length, usually found resting on
foliage in damp places. It has a wide range over Australia. In other
parts of the world these flies are numerous, and about 1,000 species of
the family have been described.
Family 7. March Flies.
TABANIDAE.
These flies are large or moderate sized insects, with broad heads
furnished with a fleshy proboscis well adapted for biting; the
4-jointed antennae stand out in front of the head and do not terminate
in a bristle; in the male the large eyes meet in front, but in the
female are separated; the wings are large, often long, and well adapted
for flight; the legs moderately stout; and the abdomen long, broad, and
somewhat flattened.
They are common in the early summer months in open forest country,
and are popularly known in Australia as “March Flies”; in England and
America they usually go under the name of “Horse or Gad Flies,” and are
a great pest to both man and horse; they are so persistent in their
endeavours to bite and suck up blood that they are very easily captured
with the hand.
The larvae of TABANIDAE live in damp earth, or are found in water;
they are carnivorous, feeding upon larvae and pond snails. The flies
deposit their eggs in bunches on herbage or low shrubs. These flies
are very interesting from an economic point of view, for they are said
to be sometimes responsible for outbreaks of anthrax by introducing
the bacillus when biting. Some years ago an outbreak of malignant
pustules on cattle in New Caledonia was said to have been traced to an
undetermined species of _Pangonia_ (Megnin and Germain, Bulletin Soc.
Ent. France Vol. viii. ser. 5).
The Genus _Pangonia_ is well represented in this country by many
large handsome flies that differ from the typical _Tabanus_ in having
ocelli, and the third joint of the antennae elongate instead of
compressed. _Pangonia guttata_ was figured by Donovan in his “Insects
of New Holland”; it measures over 1 inch in length, and is broad in
proportion; its general colour is black, clothed with little tufts
of white downy hairs fringing the thorax in front of the wings, and
forming a band round the outer edge, with similar spots down the centre
of the abdominal segments; the under-surface is variegated with longer
white and black hairs, and the wings are clouded with black. This large
handsome fly is common in the coastal forests, usually found resting
on tree trunks in the heat of the day. _P. rufovittata_ is a smaller
more showy insect of a dull yellow colour. The eyes, parallel markings
on the thorax, and broad transverse bands on the abdomen of black, the
alternate abdominal bands of beautiful golden hairs, together with
the yellow clouded wings, give it a very striking appearance; it also
has a wide range over Australia, and is occasionally taken in the
neighbourhood of Sydney. _P. auriflus_, about ½ an inch in length, also
black, has the face, front of thorax, under-surface and outer margins
of the abdomen clothed with silvery hairs, while the hind margin of the
thorax, a blotch in the centre, and the tip of the abdomen are richly
coloured with bright yellow hairs. _P. concolor_, a much larger fly, is
of a uniform reddish brown colour, with black eyes, and mottled wings;
_P. violacea_ is a small bright metallic violet tinted insect not
unlike a blue bottle fly, but is easily distinguished when the antennae
are examined.
The Genus _Tabanus_ contains many of the typical “March Flies”:
_Tabanus brevidentatus_ measures ½ an inch in length; is of a uniform
grey ash colour, with the hind edges of the abdominal segments barred
with light brown. _T. edentulus_ is a slightly larger, darker coloured
fly with greyer bands on the body; it is common on the slopes of Mt.
Kosciusko. _T. abstersus_ is still larger and darker, but with the
same general colour; the head and under-surface are clothed with
white hairs; the wings clouded; the base and sides of the abdomen
reddish brown with the dorsal surface barred with fine white hairs.
_T. sanguinarius_, one of the largest species, is of a uniform reddish
brown, with black eyes; the thorax tinted with yellow; and the wings
clouded. It has a wide range over Queensland and N.S. Wales. _Silvius
angusta_ is like a very small specimen of _Tabanus brevidentatus_.
The members of the small Family LEPTIDAE are distinguished from the
preceding one, in having the third joint of the antennae simple and
furnished with a bristle, and the tibiae spined. The curious looking
larvae have the abdomen divided into two points at the tip; they live
in pits like the ant-lions. _Leptis aequalis_ is a greyish looking
species about the size of a house fly, with the head composed of two
large globular eyes touching in the centre; the legs are long; the
wings smoky; the elongated abdomen rounded at the tip, and barred
with black; the whole insect clothed with scattered hairs standing up
thickly on the dorsal surface. These flies are very common flying over
aphis infested wheat fields; my specimens come from Molong, N.S. Wales.
Family 8. Bee-flies.
BOMBYLIDAE.
These are popularly known as bee-flies, on account of their remarkable
powers of flight, and hairy appearance. They are all more or less
clothed with delicate downy hairs, furnished with 3 jointed antennae,
and slender legs terminating in fine claws.
They frequent flowers, hovering over them like bees; and many species
have the wings richly marked with black. The life history of our
species is but little known, but I have bred several out of the clay
nests of wasps, and two out of lepidopterous pupae (_Agrotis sp._).
A European species is said to drop her eggs upon the clay nests of
wasps; the newly hatched larva is furnished with a boring apparatus in
front of its head by means of which it works its way through into the
chamber; there it undergoes another stage of development and emerges
from it with a simple sucking mouth to eat up the wasp larva. The larva
of those attacking the “cut-worms,” _Agrotis_, devours the whole of the
moth grub and pupates inside the chrysalid skin. The pupa is a very
curious looking creature enclosed in a dark brown shining skin about ¾
of an inch long, with projecting spines on the head and extremity. The
body is cylindrical with the first 7 segments furnished with a band of
rasp-like spines or ridges on the dorsal surface, with which it moves
round and round when touched. _Anthrax nigricosta_ is a handsome little
black fly, with the head, under surface of the body, and two bands
across the abdomen fringed with white down. The wings are deeply marked
with black on the front margin, widest at the base. It measures about ½
an inch in length, and comes from Queensland. _Comptosia albo-fasciata_
is a large black fly shaded with fine reddish hairs on the dorsal
surface of the body; the wings are brown, very long, with white tips;
the body measures about ¾, and across the outspread wings 1½ inches.
_Neuria quadripennis_ is a much smaller, but somewhat similar looking
fly, with the dorsal surface and margins of the body more hairy; each
wing is darkly clouded, with the base light, and the tip white. Both
these species are not uncommon in New South Wales.
_Acreotrichus gibbicornis_ is a beautiful little black fly with brown
eyes; not much over ¼ of an inch long; the elongate antennae and head
are clothed with tufts of black and white down; the rest of the body
is enveloped in long silvery white down. _A. fuscicornis_ is of a rich
violet black tint, a yellow line round the hind margin of the head,
and a broader band round the dorsal margin of the thorax of a similar
colour; the broad rounded abdomen is lightly banded with pubescence.
These flies were taken in numbers hovering over the flowers of
plum-trees in an orchard near Sydney.
Family 9. Bladder Flies.
ACROCERIDAE.
These are very curious looking flies with such very small round heads,
that at first sight one would think that they were broken off; but on
closer examination the little knobs in front will be found to consist
of two large eyes joining together on the inner edge, with small, 2 or
3 jointed antennae. Nothing is known about the larval habits of our
species, but in Europe they are parasitic on spiders or their cocoons.
The members of the Genus _Pterodontia_ have the body inflated like a
bladder; we have several species in Australia, generally found resting
on twigs or tree trunks. _Pterodontia mellii_ measures under ½ an inch
in length; the thorax and body are swollen out like a bladder; it is of
a general black colour, with a mark on the back, the fore legs, and a
large blotch on either side of the body bright ochreous yellow; but the
dark portions are thickly clothed with fine black downy hairs like a
bumble bee. The wings on account of the swollen body look much smaller
than they really are. I have specimens from Queensland, and Hunter
River N.S.W., and they probably have a wide range.
_Panops flavipes_ is a very curious looking fly from Moruya, N.S.
Wales, measuring over ½ an inch in length; it is of a general dark
bronzy black tint thickly clothed with fine down, silvery on the tip
of the abdomen. The head is very small, black and shining, with the
thickened cylindrical antennae standing out in front; the thorax,
swollen out behind the head, has a large angular white patch on
either side; the abdomen not quite as thick as the thorax is deeply
corrugated. The wings have the front half deeply clouded and the hind
portion transparent.
_Acrodes fumatus_ is a much smaller species about ⅕ of an inch in
length; the head and thorax are black; the bladder shaped abdomen
is tawny yellow, with parallel stripes of black down the centre and
sides, and transverse white bars at the apex of each segment. They were
collected in numbers about Cook’s River, near Sydney.
Family 10. Mydas Flies.
MYDAIDAE.
These might be called “mimic flies,” because, with their large
thickened antennae (often swollen out into a compressed club at the
tips), their broad heads, elongated bodies, and bright variegated black
and yellow markings, they can be very easily mistaken at first sight
for Pompilid wasps. The mimicry is further emphasised by the thickened
spined legs, and coloured wings.
We have a number of species in Australia; they are allied to the
“Robber-flies” which some of them resemble. The larvae of foreign
species are predaceous, feeding upon the grubs of various wood-boring
beetles.