310 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIBl 



where authors have presumed to found subfamilies on secondary sexual 

 characters in normal bisexual animals. Furthermore, the system becomes 

 beset with difficulties when one is confronted with a considerable series of 

 species and attempts their classification on these lines. As the characters 

 have really no fundamental importance whatever, it is not surprising to 

 find that they tend to insensibly intergrade. Again, the relative length of 

 the palpi to the proboscis depends in large part upon the length of the 

 proboscis itself, a very variable character, and one of doubtful generic 

 value, which has been wholly ignored in this connection. Dr. Lutz, in an 

 attempt at a concise classification, in drawing the lines between his 

 MetanototrichcC-Heteropalpae and Metanototrichse Isomicropalpae, has 

 been forced to use such distinctions as " (J palpi one-third as long as 

 the proboscis (Goeldia); $ palpi a little longer than in the ? 

 ( SabetJi'unis).'' Genera in which the males are unknown are placed on 

 assumption, and happen to have been generally placed wtongly. 

 Sabet/ioides, for example, which he places in the IsomicrOj^alpse, has long 

 palpi in the male. In genera of homogenous structure and coloration, the 

 length of the male palpi varies in different species. For example, in 

 HcBuiagogus eqiiinus^ Theob., the male palpi are long, while in several 

 other members of the genus they are short like those of the female. To 

 add to the confusion, Peryassu states that the male palpi of Stegoconops 

 are long. He includes two species in this genus, but gives no description 

 of the male of either. One of these species {ieucomelas, Lutz) we have 

 identified as a species of y^^^5 (as we understand that genus). VVe do 

 not know the male, but suspect that it has long palpi. The other species 

 included in Stegoconops {capricorni, Lutz) is the one upon which the genus 

 was founded. We have identified this as a species of Hcvjuagogus, the 

 female agreeing with the original description in every respect, but the male 

 palpi are short, like those of the female. Finally, it generally happens 

 that specimens received for identification are females, and such are 

 entirely unplaceable on the " system." As admitted by Theobald 

 himself when he says, " but unless both sexes are seen, it is quite impos- 

 sible to place any Culicid in any of the sections into which the family is 

 divided." (Mon. Culic, iv., 122, 1907.) We are aware of instances 

 where the work of enthusiastic students has been completely arrested from 

 their inability to make any headway in classifying their material, since 

 they could never determine to what genera their si)ecimens should be 

 referred. 



