978 MOSQUITOES OF NOETH AMERICA 



Bahia, Minas Geraes and Matto Grosso, Brazil (Peryassii) ; Iquitos, Peru (New- 

 stead & Thomas) ; St. Lucia (Gray & Ix)W, ISTicholls), Dominica, St. Vincent, 

 Grenada and Carriacore, Grenadines (Theobald), West Indies. 



Goeldi's name Anopheles tarsimaculata was not proposed for a new species, 

 but suggested as a desirable emendation of alhipes. There is therefore no 

 original description, but the species is figured and with the discussion the new 

 name is published. We have therefore felt justified in recognizing Goeldi's 

 name as the first valid name for the species before us. 



Anopheles tarsimaculata closely resembles A. albimanus and differs from it 

 in only one important detail, the coloration of the palpi, which shows much more 

 white than in albimanus. The abundant material before us shows that this 

 difference is constant and furthermore that the two forms occupy distinct 

 geographic areas. A. tarsimaculata occurs in tropical and subtropical South 

 America east of the Andes, in the Lesser Antilles, and extends northward over 

 the Isthmus of Panama to eastern Nicaragua. It is only from Panama north- 

 ward that tarsimaculata and albimanus occur together, the latter species ex- 

 tending southward from Panama only on the western side of the Andes. We 

 have seen specimens from only two of the Lesser Antilles, Trinidad and 

 Grenada, but from what we know of insect distribution in the Antilles we are 

 confident that those in the other islands will be found to be tarsimaculata. We 

 have examined many specimens from Cuba, St. Domingo, Jamaica and Porto 

 Rico and found them to be invariably albimanus. 



The wing pattern is identical with that of Anopheles albimanus and A. 

 argyritarsis and the color of the pale scales is yellowish, as in albimanus, and 

 not pure white, as in most argyritarsis. We have found only one exception, in 

 one of the specimens from New Amsterdam, British Guiana ; in this the light 

 colored wing-scales are pure white and furthermore the scales on the dorsum 

 of the abdomen are light bluish-gray, instead of yellowish as in normal speci- 

 mens. The wing pattern shows considerable variation, particularly in the 

 extent of the black spots in the costal region. The three largest costal spots may 

 be very closely approximated and separated only by minute yellowish dots, or 

 they may be well separated by larger yellowish patches; in the latter case the 

 large black spot nearest the wing base is usually more or less completely broken, 

 producing an additional small black spot at its distal end. This latter con- 

 dition is particularly characteristic of the male, where the reduction of the 

 black costal spots appears to be the rule. 



According to Nicholls the larvae of Anopheles tarsimaculata may be dis- 

 tinguished from those of A. argyritarsis by the presence of "four pairs of 

 brilliant white areas, situated on the front of the thorax and on the second, 

 fifth, and eighth abdominal segments respectively." He states that these 

 markings are only obvious in healthy specimens and we suspect that, like other 

 color peculiarities of Anopheles larvae, they are not reliable. Nicholls states 

 that the pupa likewise " can be distinguished by two large white blotches situ- 

 ated on the posterior part of the thorax." 



Anopheles tarsimaculata was included by Theobald in his description of 

 Anopheles argyrotarsis albipes, but the major part of that description applies 

 to albimanus Wiedemann, and we have accordingly quoted albipes under the 

 syuonymy of albimanus. The specimens before Theobald from British Guiana, 

 Rio de Janeiro, and Antigua are tarsimaculata, and the quoted description of 

 the larva belongs here. The specimen from India is doubtless misidentified. 

 Bourroul cites the species wrongly under albipes, Blanchard wrongly under 

 cubensis, Coquillett and Peryassii wrongly under albimanus. 



Reexamination of the single t3^e-specimen of Anopheles gorgasi Dyar and 

 Knab has convinced us that it is an abnormality and referable to tarsimaculata. 

 The specimen is in poor condition and lacks the last three tarsal joints of the 

 right hind leg. The left hind tarsus has the third joint white-scaled with an 

 elongate black spot beneath ; the fourth joint is black-scaled with a white ring 



