CULEX SPISSIPES 313 



Original Description of Melanoconion spissipes: 



Head black; thorax with the anterior half golden, the posterior half black; pleurae 

 brown. Abdomen black, unhanded, with small lateral basal white spots and pallid 

 venter. Legs black, unhanded, the middle pair very thick and rather flattened. 



$. Head black, with narrow-curved dusky scales, black and deep brown upright 

 forked scales, and flat black lateral ones; antennas deep brown, one side of the basal 

 joint and the base of the second joint testaceous; palpi and proboscis black; the frons 

 slightly projects as a knob; clypeus black; eyes silvery. Thorax black, the front half 

 covered with narrow-curved bright golden scales, the posterior half with small 

 curved black and bronzy scales and with numerous long black bristles; there are 

 also black bristles projecting from the front of the thorax; scutellum black, with 

 narrow-curved dull golden scales and eight black bristles to the median lobe; meta- 

 notum deep black; pleurae brov/n, with some grey scales. 



Abdomen entirely black above, with moderately long dull golden border-bristles, 

 laterally at the base of the segments are small white patches of scales; venter pallid, 

 with an ochraceous tinge on the apical portion, grey at the base; the base of the 

 segments palest. 



Legs black; coxse brown; venter of femora, especially of the hind pair, pale; the 

 fore femora are swollen and the mid pair of legs prominently swollen, having a 

 somewhat flattened appearance; hind legs long; ungues equal and simple. 



Wings with typical brown Melanoconion scales; first sub-marginal cell longer and 

 narrower than the second posterior cell, its base a little the nearer the base of the 

 wing, its stem rather less than half the length of the cell; stem of the second pos- 

 terior rather more than half the length of the cell; posterior cross-vein nearly twice 

 its own length distant from the mid; halteres with pale stem and black knob. 



Length. 4.5 mm. 



HaMtat. Trinidad (C. W. Hewlett). 



Observations. Described from a single $. It cannot be mistaken for any other 

 member of the genus on account of the thoracic ornamentation and the curious thick 

 flattened mid legs. The black velvety ground colour and the golden thorax and pale 

 venter form a strong contrast. 



Description of Female of Culex spissipes (Male and Larva Unknown) : 



Female. Proboscis long and slender, slightly enlarged apically, vestiture 

 black with a bronzy and blue reflection; setae minute, curved, black, those on 

 labellse more prominently outstanding. Palpi short, one-fifth as long as pro- 

 boscis, clothed with black scales. Antennae moderate, joints subequal, second 

 joint one and one-half times as long as third, pale at base, the others rugose, 

 pilose, blackish; tori subspherical, with a cup-shaped apical excavation, dark 

 brown, pruinose. Clypeus triangular, prominent, dark brown, pruinose. Occi- 

 put dark brown, clothed with narrow, curved golden-brown scales above, with 

 flat white appressed ones on sides below, many erect, forked black scales on nape ; 

 a row of black setas along margins of eyes. 



Prothoracic lobe elliptical, remote dorsally, dark brown, clothed with black 

 bristles. Mesonotum dark brown, anterior half clothed with narrow, curved 

 golden-yellow scales, shortly produced backward on subdorsal ridges, a patch of 

 these on each side of ante-scutellar space nearly joining the anterior golden area; 

 posterior half of mesonotum is otherwise clothed with dark golden-brown scales ; 

 there are two small patches of browai scales on anterior third within golden 

 area; setse coarse, dark brown. Scutellum trilobate, dark brown, clothed with 

 narrow, curved golden-yellow scales, each lobe with a tuft of dark-brown bristles. 

 Postnotum elliptical, prominent, dark brown, nude. Pleurae and coxse dark 

 brown, with rows of pale bristles and small patches of dull-white scales. 



Abdomen subcylindrical, depressed, truncate at tip ; dorsal vestiture of black- 

 ish-brown scales and a row of pale bristles at tip of each segment, a row of lateral, 

 basal segmental, triangular yello^vish-white patches; venter yellowish-white 

 scaled, the two last segments broadly black at tips. 



Wings moderate, hyaline ; petiole of second marginal cell one-fourth as long 

 as its cell, that of second posterior cell considerably shorter than its cell ; basal 



