TEIBE SABETHINI 21 



notum in addition to the setae. The character does not even hold for genera. 

 Dyar and Knab, in their paper on the classification of mosquitoes upon larval 

 characters, readily recognized the proper division, which is well marked in the 

 larvae, but made the mistake of retaining the anophelines in a separate " sub- 

 family," giving a too great value to the sessile air-tube of these forms, which is 

 simply a character of generalization and does not indicate taxonomic discon- 

 nection. 



The discovery of new forms brought to light an apparent sabethine among 

 the relatives of Deinocerites, a culicine genus. At least this new form possessed 

 set?e upon the postnotum and was christened Dinomimetes, in allusion to the 

 " wonderful mimicry " of Deinocerites, of which a sabethine was capable. 

 Further study of this form showed that it was in fact a near relative of 

 Deinocerites, having practically identical male genitalia and larvse, and while 

 the name is still excellently descriptive, we have to do with a Deinocerites that 

 " wonderfully mimics " the structure of a sabethine, instead of the reverse. 

 This discovery, and the recently made one that small bristles sometimes occur 

 on the postnotum of the culicine Hcemagogns, vitiates the distinction hitherto 

 drawn between the Culicini and Sabethini, and we have found ourselves obliged 

 to search for supplementary characters. We believe we have found these in the 

 presence of the two coarse bristles on the vertex and the short hind femora, 

 together with the absence of setse from the disk mesonotum as described above. 



Characters of generalization retained by the Sabethini are the weak develop- 

 ment of sets, the absence of armature on the claws of the feet and the presence 

 of setfe upon the postnotum. In the larvae the mouth-parts are primitive and 

 largely remain functional, not being replaced in use by the oral cilia as much 

 as in the culicines, the raptorial forms using the maxillae as organs of prehen- 

 sion ; the mechanism of 5 flaps for closing the air-tube seen in most Culicini is 

 here undeveloped. 



Characters of specialization are the marked reduction of the palpi and the 

 decrease in the number of the joints, generally affecting both sexes, and the 

 broadening of the wing-scales and the loss of pattern and diversified coloration. 

 The larvae all possess long, well-developed air-tubes, as well as many of the pupae, 

 even producing such a peculiar monstrosity as the pupa of Wyeomyia circum- 

 cincta. The male genitalia are for the most part peculiarly modified, but in the 

 simplest forms resemble those of the megarhinines or of the lowest culicines, 

 and are not so generalized as those of the anophelines. 



The origin of the Sabethini would seem to be at a point in the genealogical 

 tree in the vicinity of Megarhinus and Orthopodomyia, above Uranotcenia and 

 Aedeomyia. No form from which they could be directly derived seems to be 

 now existant. Exclusive of the anophelines, which represent an evolutionary 

 stage too primitive for our present consideration, the ancestral larva would 

 appear to have been an inhabitant of water in hollow trees or the leaves of 

 plants, combining the characters of Orthopodomyia and Megarhinus. It was 

 no doubt a vegetable feeder, consuming considerable solid matter in the larval 

 state. The adult was probably brilliantly colored, with the smooth vestiture of 



