CULEX VINDICATOR 265 



of browu bristles. Postuotum elliptical, prominent, luteous, nude. Pleurae and 

 coxae luteous, with small patches of white scales and with rows of small brown 

 bristles. 



Abdomen subcylindrical, depressed truncated at tip; dorsal vestiture dull 

 black, with a slight reflection, a rather narrow white band at base of each seg- 

 ment, except the first, triangularly produced mesially, a row of lateral, basal, 

 segmental, triangular spots ; venter yellowish white ; a row of yellowish hairs at 

 tip of each segment dorsally, end of abdomen strongly hairy. 



Wings moderate, hyaline ; petiole of second marginal cell about one-third as 

 long as its cell, that of second posterior cell shorter than its cell ; basal cross- 

 vein about its own length distant from anterior cross- vein ; scales blackish brown, 

 blackish on the costa, with a metallic luster, the outstanding ones broadly linear, 

 very dense outwardly, especially on forks of second vein. Halteres whitish. 



Legs moderate, femora whitish beneath almost to tip ; knees and tips of tibiae 

 pale; tibise and tarsi bronzy black, with a brassy reflection beneath, the hind 

 tarsi with very narrow white bands at base and apex of each joint, the last joint 

 dark at tip ; bands less distinct on fore and mid tarsi. Claw formula, 0.0-0.0-0.0. 



Length : Body about 2.5 mm. ; wing 2.2 mm. 



Male. Proboscis straight, longer than in the female, thickened towards apex. 

 Palpi slender, exceeding proboscis by nearly the length of last two joints, end of 

 long joint and the last two joints with long, dense black hairs ; vestiture bronzy 

 black, without rings. Antennae plumose; last two joints long and slender, 

 rugose, pilose, black, the others short, pale, with black rings at insertion of hair- 

 whorls; hairs long, dense, brown. Coloration similar to the female. Wings 

 narrower than in the female, the stems of the fork-cells a little longer ; vestiture 

 sparse. Abdomen with the dorsal white basal bands broader, expanded laterally 

 on last three segments, mesially produced on second to fifth ; sides densely hairy. 

 Claw formula, 1.1-1.1-0.0. 



Length : Body about 3 mm. ; wing 2.2 mm. 



Genitalia (plate 14, fig. 104) : Side-pieces over twice as long as wide, conically 

 tapered at tip ; marginal appendages on a subapical truncated prominence con- 

 sisting of three rods with hooked tips and a leaf -like appendage and two short, 

 rounded rods. Clasp-filament stout, rather long, curved with a small articulated 

 appendage. Harpes furcate, lower branch curved, with a rounded tip, outer bear- 

 ing a dense terminal tuft of spines. Harpagones furcate, divided into numerous 

 spurs. Basal appendages represented by a tuft of setae on each side. 



Larva, Stage IV (plate 98, fig. 322). Head rounded, prominent at eyes; 

 antenna rather long, dark, the tuft at outer third, the part beyond slender ; both 

 pairs of head-tufts in threes, ante-antennal tufts multiple. Body with the skin 

 pilose, the lateral hairs multiple on first abdominal segment, in twos on second 

 to sixth ; lateral comb of eighth segment of many spines in a large triangular 

 patch, xlir-tube about five times as long as wide, slightly tapering outwardly; 

 pecten of rather large teeth, about sixteen in number, the basal ones smaller, 

 all evenly spaced, reaching two-fifths the length of tube ; a long double-haired 

 tuft just within pecten; a small triple-haired one slightly beyond middle of 

 tube, placed well towards dorsal aspect ; outer tuft triple, at outer fourth ; 

 terminal hooks minute. Anal segment longer than wide, ringed by the plate, 

 which is minutely spined posteriorly; dorsal tuft of three hairs of diflierent 

 lengths on each side; lateral hair single, small; ventral brush large, confined by 

 the chitinous ring. Anal gills twice as long as the segment, tapering, unequal. 



The larvae live in foul water in cacao-husks. The eggs are laid in raft-shaped 

 masses on the water-surface. 



Island of Dominica, West Indies. 



