Note 245 — LETTER V.

It is by no means clear that the Œstrus of modern entomologists is synonymous with the insects which the Greeks distinguish by that name. Aristotle not only describes these as blood-suckers (Hist. Animal. l. viii. c. 11.) but also as furnished with a strong proboscis (l. iv. c. 7.). He observes likewise that they are produced from an animal inhabiting the waters, in the vicinity of which they most abound (l. viii. c. 7.). And Ælian (Hist. l. vi. c. 38.) gives nearly the same account. Comparing the Œstrus with the Myops (synonymous perhaps with Tabanus, Latr., except that Aristotle affirms that its larvæ live in wood, l. v. c. 19,) he says, the Œstrus for a fly is one of the largest; it has a stiff and large sting, (meaning a proboscis,) and emits a certain humming and harsh sound—but the Myops is like the Cynomyia—it hums more loudly than the Œstrus, though it has a smaller sting.