The Hatching of Eggs of the Southern Buffalo Gnat.

In the spring of 1927 and in other years since that time considerable numbers of farm animals, chiefly mules, have been killed in the lower Mississippi Valley by outbreaks of the Southern Buffalo Gnat. In Former times this insect caused enormous losses for livestock in this region, but for some forty years prior to the present series of outbreaks, little was recorded concerning its depredations. That the sudden appearance of swarms of this pest is in some way dependent on spring floods has long been known. The information available on the life history of the insect, however, has failed to explain satisfactorily this condition.