Gallnipper
Sean McCann

In the South, the colloquial term for large mosquitoes in the genus Psorophora, especially Ps. ciliata (Fabricius) and Ps. howardii Coquillet, is “Gallinipper”. This term is a strange one, and deserves further investigation.
Webster’s 20th Century (Webster 1979) dictionary states that a Gallinipper is a “large mosquito or other insect that can bite or sting painfully” and that the word is made up of “galley” and “nipper”.
In general this term has been used in the South. I have found several interesting records of its usage, one in a collection of folktales from Georgia(Traditional 1888), the other in a traditional song from minstrelry (Unknown 1846), and another in a blues song commonly attributed to Blind Lemon Jefferson (Jefferson 1929).
In the Georgia reference, the Gallinipper is credited with enormous size and a painful bite, able, in fact, to pierce a tree with its proboscis.
In “Mosquito Moan”, Mr. Jefferson also mentions the fearsome bite of this mosquito:

Mosquito Moan
I bought a spray last night 'n I sprayed all over my house
I bought a spray last night 'n I sprayed all over my house
Mosquitoes all around my door won't let nobody come out

Mosquitoes all around me, mosquitoes everywhere I go
Mosquitoes all around me, mosquitoes everywhere I go
No matter where I go, they sticks their bills in me

I would say gallinipper, these gallinippers bites too hard
I would say gallinipper, these gallinippers bites too hard
I stepped back in my kitchen and they springing up in my back yard

I am not sure what the Gallinipper line in “De Blue Tail Fly” is referring to, but the preceding line deals with mosquitoes:

De Blue Tail Fly.
A Negro Song.
(Boston: Oliver Ditson, 1846)

O when you come in summer time,
To South Carlinar's sultry clime,
If in de shade you chance to lie,
You'll soon find out de blue tail fly,
An scratch 'im wid a brier too.

Dar's many kind ob dese here tings,
From diff'rent sort ob insects springs;
Some hatch in June, an some July,
But August fotches de blue tail fly,
An scratch 'im wid a brier too.




When I was young, I used to wait
On Massa's table an hand de plate;
I'de pass de bottle when he dry,
An brush away de blue tail fly.
An scratch 'im &c.

Den arter dinner massa sleep,
He bid me vigilance to keep;
An when he gwine to shut he eye,
He tell me watch de blue tail fly.
An scratch 'im &c.

When he ride in de arternoon,
I foller wid a hickory broom;
De poney being berry shy,
When bitten by de blue tail fly.
An scratch 'im &c.

One day he rode aroun de farm,
De flies so numerous did swarm;
One chance to bite 'im on de thigh,
De debble take dat blue tail fly.
An scratch 'im &c.

De poney run, he jump, an pitch,
An tumble massa in de ditch;
He died, an de Jury wonder why,
De verdict was, de "blue tail fly."
An scratch 'im &c.

Dey laid 'im under a simmon tree,
His epitaph am dar to see;
Beneath dis stone I'm forced to lie,
All by de means ob de blue tail fly.
An scratch 'im &c.

Ole Massa's gone, now let him rest,
Dey say all tings am for de best;
I neber shall forget till de day I die,
Ole Massa an de blue tail fly.
An scratch 'im &c.

De hornet gets in your eyes an nose,
De skeeter bites y'e through your close,
De gallinipper sweeten high,
But wusser yet de blue tail fly.
An scratch 'im &c.


References

Jefferson, B. L. 1929. Mosquito Moan. Paramount Records, Richmond, VA.
Traditional. 1888. De Ole man an de Gallinipper, pp. 22. In C. C. Jones [ed.], Negro Myths from the Georgia Coast. Houghton-Mifflin, Boston.
Unknown. 1846. De Blue Tail Fly: A Negro Song. Ditson, O., Baltimore, Boston.
Webster. 1979. Gallinipper, pp. 750, Webster's New Twentieth Century Dictionary, 2 ed. Simon & Schuster, New York.