AEDES SOLLICITANS 661 



outer third of tube beyond pecten. Lateral comb of eighth segment of few scales 

 in a small triangular patch ; single scale elliptical, with a long stout spinule at 

 tip, the sides fringed with shorter ones. Anal segment not as long as wide, ringed 

 by the plate ; dorsal tuft a brush and hair on either side ; a single lateral hair ; 

 ventral brush well developed, of short tufts, posteriorly situated, confined to 

 barred area. Anal gills very short, bud-shaped. 



Egg (plate l-i6, fig. 679). Fusiform, slightly flattened on one side, the ends 

 roundedly pointed; a gelatinous cushion at micropyle; sculpture roundedly 

 quadrangular or subhexagonal, the transverse angles slightly pointed. 



The eggs are laid on the ground in the salt-marshes, in depressions that are 

 filled by the high tides. Often such places are behind a sand barrier that is 

 overwashed only at the highest tides or in a storm. Occasionally the pools may 

 be filled by rain water. In either case the eggs hatch and the larvae develop. 

 Professor Smith states that the larvse will develop in water 25 per cent more salt 

 than ordinary sea water. The larvae occur in those pools nearest the sea that are 

 isolated and therefore more or less free from enemies. There are a series of 

 broods during warm weather, determined by the conditions which cause the eggs 

 to hatch and permit the larvae to develop. The females fly for considerable dis- 

 tances inland and are persistent and troublesome biters. Professor Smith has 

 studied the species in New Jersey and says : 



" When the eggs become covered with water by rains or by the tides the 

 larvae develop and emerge, often within a period of minutes rather than hours. 

 They thrive equally well in salt water or in fresh water and develop most 

 rapidly where the food supply is most abundant. I have never found this species 

 breeding elsewhere than on the marsh or at its very borders, in the salt hay zone 

 along shore which cannot exactly be called marsh. It is always a shore or marsh 

 mosquito and every little hole on the marsh may breed it. A week is all that 

 is necessary to bring the larva to maturity, and the pupal stage is short or long, 

 according to temperature. 



" At Anglesea young larvae were taken by Mr. Dickerson as early as March 

 5th, though development at that period is slow. March 12th larvae were more 

 abundant and evidently developing generally. At that time Mr. Dickerson 

 tested the temperature of the water in which larvae occurred and found that it 

 ranged from 42 degrees to 50 degrees Fahrenheit. At this temperature micro- 

 scopic life multiplies slowly and the wriggler food supply is limited ; therefore 

 this first brood of larvse dawdles along for a month before adults are ready to 

 emerge. Breeding continues until early October ; but after that few eggs remain 

 to be developed, except for the spring following. If the wriggler succeeds in 

 reaching the pupal stage before a pool dries up it is usually safe, for the pupa 

 will live twenty-four hours in soft mud and develop as an adult ; indeed not more 

 than twelve hours is really needed, because I have had mosquitoes emerge within 

 that period. Larvae more than half grown will survive in soft mud a few hours, 

 and if the pool is then refilled by rain or tide will revive and complete their 

 transformations." 



The females leave the marshes in search of food, after having mated, and have 

 been known to travel inland as far as 40 miles. Concerning these flights of this 

 species, and of Aedes tceniorhynchus and cantator, which occur more or less in 

 association. Professor Smith says: 



" Prior to 1902 the belief was that only in isolated instances, under excep- 

 tional conditions, did mosquitoes fly more than a short distance from the place 

 where they became adult. Their radius of flight was expressed sometimes in 

 feet, more rarely in yards, and almost never in fractions of a mile. Based upon 



