296 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



ANOPHELES CRUCIANS, WIEDMANN. 



BY C. S. LUDLOW. 

 Laboratory of the Office of tht- Surg'con-Gcneral. L. S. Army, Washing'ton, D. C. 



A curious little error has crept into the description of this mosquito, 

 and has been carried into so many authors that it seems as if the easiest 

 way would be for the insect to rearrange its markings. 



Wiedmann, in his description (Ansse Europ. Zweifleg, Ins., p. 12, 

 1828) says : ^'Taster braunlich schwarz, glieder an der Wurzel wenig 

 shneevveiss," but this is, of course, a broad generalization, and the words are 

 used loosely. 



Coquillett (Circ. 40, 2nd series, Dept. Agri., p. 4, 1899) makes the 



statement more definite ; "palpi marked with white at the bases of last 

 four joints." 



Theobald, quoting this, makes it part of his description. (Mon. Cul. 

 of the World, Vol. I, p. 204, 1901.) 



Blanchard (Les Moustiques, Hist. Nat. et Med., p. 171, 1905), 

 apparently using the same information, says : "Pal pes d' un noir brunatre, 

 marques de blanc a la base des 4 dernier articles." 



Felt (Mos. or Cul. of N. Y. State, N. Y. State Museum, p. 270, 

 1904) also carries on the error, giving as one of the distinctive character- 

 istics, "the white bases of the last four segments of the palpi." 



Smith, in his synoptical table (Report on Mosquitoes, N. J. Agri. 



Expt. Sta., p. 152, 1904), makes the "palpi white-marked at base of 

 joints," but figures and describes the palpi correctly (id., p. 170). 



Coquillett, in his last work on the subject (a Classification of the 

 Mosquitoes of North and Middle America, p. 12, 1906), drops this 

 characteristic, but does not correct his former error. 



In reality, the specimens sent in to this office, for more than a year, 

 from various parts of the U. S., and those in the collection of the National 

 Museum show the last joint of the palpi entirely white (silvery-gray) and 

 very narrow white bands at the bases of the penultimate and antepenulti- 

 mate joints, sometimes involving slightly both sides of the joints, the 

 remainder of the palpi being entirely brown. The only variation on this 

 is that in some rubbed specimens the base of the ultimate joint appears 

 brownish^ but the perfect specimens show the entire distal joint and ttijo 

 bands white. 



September, 1906 



