404 MOSQUITOES OF NORTH AMERICA 



Siphon many times longer than broad, in adult larvae as long as the thorax and 

 abdomen, slightly curved forward in its upper half; row of pecten in lower third of 

 15-lS scales, each scale a flattened lamella with 5-6 terminal serratures and 2-3 

 basal ones. Four bifid hairs along posterior margin of tube increasing in size from 

 above downwards. Comb of 30-40 delicate scales in a rough triangle, each scale 

 bordered with fine hairs along the free margin. Anal papillae ovate, nearly as long 

 as ventral hair tuft. Chitinous collar of ninth segment complete, broad. Eggs 

 laid in rafts. 



Mosquitoes bred from these larvae were forwarded to Mr. Theobald, who has kindly 

 sent me the following description: 



" Culex microsquamosus, n. sp. Thorax clear bright brown, unadorned, pleura 

 pale gray. Proboscis indistinctly pale-banded in the middle. Abdomen deep black- 

 ish, with basal pale bands. Legs deep brown, unhanded; base and venter of femora 

 gray; apex of hind tibiae pale. Palpi of male acuminate, last two segments hairy, 

 jet black, remainder mostly ochraceous brown. Male genitalia with three flattened 

 spines and one foliate plate on the inner lateral process. 



" $. Head deep brown, with narrow curved pale grayish scales and black and deep 

 ochraceous upright forked ones, some small gray flat scales laterally. Clypeus 

 brown. Proboscis black, showing a pale, indistinct median area in some lights. 

 Palpi short, black-scaled, testaceous in the middle owing to a bare area. Antennsfi 

 deep brown. Thorax clear brown, scantily clothed with very small narrow curved pale 

 bronzy scales (in some lights the metanotum is deeper brown); scutellum paler, 

 gray in some lights, with small narrow curved bronzy-brown scales and rather long 

 deep-brown border bristles, eight to the mid-lobe; metanotum ochraceous-brown to 

 brown; pleura pale shiny gray, with some rows of small black bristles. 



" Abdomen deep blackish brown, with basal pale bands to the third, fourth, fifth 

 and sixth segments, traces on the seventh, pronounced on the eighth; the first seg- 

 ment is nude, shiny, testaceous, with brown hairs and two small median patches of 

 black scales, border bristles pale ochraceous. 



" Legs deep brown, unhanded; base and venter of femora gray, also to some extent 

 the venter of the tibiae and some pale scales beneath the tarsi. Apex of hind tibiae with 

 a pale spot, femoral and tibial hairs pallid; ungues small, equal, simple, much curved. 

 Hind tibiae and metatarsi about equal. Wings with typical Culex scales; first sub- 

 marginal cell considerably longer and a little narrower than the second posterior cell, 

 its base near the base of the wing, its stem one-third of the length of the cell; second 

 posterior cell small, its stem about two-thirds the length of the cell; lower branch 

 of the fork much curved; posterior cross-vein rather longer than the mid, not quite 

 its own length distant from it; median vein-scales on the third rather large and 

 dusky. Halteres with white stem and fuscous knob, sharply contracted. Length 

 4 mm. 



" (^ similar to $. Palpi with acuminate apical segment, the last two and apex of 

 the antepenultimate segment black, with black hair tufts, remainder of palpi 

 brown. Proboscis deep brown, with an indistinct broad median pale band. Fork 

 cells small, the first submarginal longer and narrower than the second posterior 

 cell, its base nearer the base of the wing; the stem about two-thirds the length of the 

 cell; stem of the second posterior nearly as long as the cell. Ungues of the fore and 

 mid legs unequal, uniserrated; hind equal and simple. Genitalia with sickle-shaped 

 claspers, internal prominence with three thick flat spines, the mid broadest, the 

 smallest not hooked at the apex, foliate plate acute apically, with a prominent curved 

 spine over its base. Length 4 mm. 



" Observations. It comes very near C. fatigans and its allies, but the male geni- 

 talia differ, and the small thoracic scales at once separate it. The form of the first 

 fork-cell varies. A very marked variety occurs, in which the abdominal banding is 

 almost absent. This variety shows a few pale scales on the apical borders of some 

 of the segments, and the posterior border-bristles on the mid-lobe of the scutellum 

 are seven in number. The characters are not sufficient to separate it as a distinct 

 species, and the male sent with it exactly resembles that of the type. Another speci- 

 men differs from the type in the rather more elongate form of the wing, but resembles 

 it in all other features, and cannot be separated." 



Description of Female, Male, axd Larva of Culex microsquamosus: 



Female. Proboscis moderate, enlarged apically, labellae conically tapered; 

 vestiture black, broadly whitish scaled beneath in middle ; setae minute, curved, 

 black, those on labellse more prominently outstanding. Palpi short, black, one- 

 fifth as long as the proboscis, with a few outstanding setge at base. Antennae 

 moderate; joints subequal, rugose, pilose, black, second joint not longer than 



