OF WASHINGTON. 153 



Brakeley found the larvae of this Culex abundantly in a certain 

 old iron kettle on his place in the summer of 1902, and Dr. Dyar 

 thought that the eggs might be found by a careful search of this 

 kettle, bearing in mind the habits of oviposition observed in 

 captivity. Such proved to be the case, Mr. Brakeley rinding the 

 eggs along the old water lines exactly as wcruld be expected. 

 The kettle was dry at the time of examination, November 2. It 

 had, however, been more or less full of water all summer and 

 apparently for previous seasons. The eggs were found at the 

 points where the water level had remained constant long enough 

 to form rings on the side of the kettle, singly, in lines of three to 

 ten, or in groups. They adhered firmly to the side, but could be 

 detached by a forceps moistened in alcohol or with a stiff brush. 

 It thus appears that Culex triseriatus passes the winter in the 

 egg state, as has been inferred. The eggs sent by Mr. Brakeley 

 will be submitted to culture experiments to see if they will 

 hatch. 



Dr. Dyar showed also a set of photographs of lepidopterous 

 larvae taken by Mr. A. Hyatt Verrill, of New Haven, Connecticut. 

 Some of them showed the larvae somewhat enlarged, bringing 

 out the general appearance very nicely. 



He showed further some drawings of the mentum of mo 

 squito larvae, principally of the genus Culex, showing the modi 

 fication in size and shape of this organ in the different species.* 

 In Culex pipiens, C. nigritulus and C. dyari it is large with 

 many teeth on the edge, the central tooth large and followed by 

 small ones, again becoming large toward the base ; in C. terri- 

 tans and C. melanurus the part is much smaller, the teeth fewer 

 and larger, but of the same general arrangement ; in C. restuans 

 it is very small, the teeth fine and uniform, deeply grooved 

 basally. C. sylvestris, C. atropalpus, C. canadensis, C. 

 tceniorhynchus, C. sollicitans, C. jamaicensis, Aedes fuscus 

 and Stegomyia fasciata have the mentum large, broadly tri 

 angular, the teeth usually small centrally,' becoming larger 

 toward the base. Dr. Howard called attention to this structure 

 last year ; it will probably prove useful in conjunction with the 

 other larval characters, though comparatively difficult to observe. 



The paper by Mr. Banks, "New Smynthuridae from the Dis 

 trict of Columbia," was, in his absence, read by title. 



* See pp. 147, 148. 



