26     THE INDIAN JOURNAL OF VETERINARY SCIENCE AND ANIMAL HUSBANDRY [I, I

been summarized both by Tetley [1917] and Mitter [1917-18]. Although the writer
of the present paper has not had occasion to notice these flies in the actual act of
sucking blood, nevertheless he has observed the presence of fairly large quantities
of blood in the midgut of at least two female specimens, in the course of the
numerous dissections performed by him.‡ He, however, did not succeed either to
induce them to suck blood or to oviposit in captivity, although the conditions were
made as favourable for them as could be thought of, for the flies were kept confined
in a capacious chamber, with large quantities of their natural food-plants
(R. purpurea, as mentioned above) and vegetation overhanging a small tank
containing water, whilst a goat was kept tied in the chamber for the supply of
mammalian blood, in case the flies would be disposed to bite at all. Under
such conditions, the flies did not survive for more than 4 days, although endeav-
our was made to revive any moribund fly by feeding it artificially on sugar
solution.

         The condition of the ovaries was examined whenever a female fly was dissected,
and only in one instance were the ova found to have attained a certain degree of
maturity. The total number of ova (which presented a greenish appearance)
recovered in this instance amounted to about 150, each ovum being less than a
millimetre in length (Pl. IV, fig. 5).

                           NOTES ON THE ANATOMY OF C. LONGIROSTRIS.

         (a) The mouth-parts.
The mouth-parts of C. longirostris, which constitute the most noticeable
features in the external anatomy of flies of this class, have already been made the
subject of detailed studies by Tetley (l.c.) and Mitter (l.c.), but neither of these
authors appear to have rendered an adequate appreciation of the morphology of
the basal portion of the labium. In describing this region, Mitter writes: " At
the base there are membranous folds which permit of a greater amount of flexion.
These membranous folds at the base of the labium facilitate its bending at the time
of sucking blood ". Tetley merely refers to the portion as being " enclosed in a
basal membrane, the membrane of Meinert ", but it is perhaps open to question
whether the basal portion may be correctly described as being " enclosed " in the
membrane, since the latter is merely a prolongation of the labium itself, as the
present writer has found to be the case in fresh specimens of C. longirostris

         ‡ In accordance with the information brought to him on one occasion by his field assistant (who
has had considerable experience with these flies), C. longirostris was observed by him definitely to suck
blood, while hovering, from one of the Government ponies at the station, by making repeated darts at
the animal. It is of interest in this connection that Drake-Brookman (1910-11) found C. distincta to be
a vicious biter of animals in Africa.