276 MOSQUITOES OF NORTH AMERICA 



separates himself." He stated that the act is so fleeting that people note it with 

 diflRculty, and he has always failed to kill specimens in the act except by smash- 

 ing them between his hands. He also says that they will copulate within the 

 narrow dimensions of a bottle or breeding cage, a fact that facilitates the 

 fecundation of females bred in captivity and thus enables the breeding of the 

 species for many successive generations. Goeldi confirms the observation of 

 Hinds that the same male has frequent connections in rapid succession with 

 various females which approach him. Peryassu also found that a male will 

 copulate with more than one female in succession. 



The copulation of Aedes calopus has been observed by a number of other in- 

 vestigators. Nearly all of them agree that it takes place in the daytime, during 

 flight, face to face, and that it is of very short duration. Both sexes are ready to 

 mate soon after leaving the pupa. 



One of us (Knab) has pointed out that Godeheu de Riville, a French naval 

 commander, in the third volume of the Memoires de Mathematique et de 

 Physique, published in 1760, has described the copulation of what was with little 

 doubt this species, since he states that the species of mosquito he observed was 

 most active during the warmest hours of the day, that it was a domestic species, 

 and united with the female face to face. The observations were made on board 

 ship during a voyage from India. We quote from Knab's article : 



" However, upon May 13, a lucky chance permitted him to observe what for 

 more than two months had been the object of his research. Seeing a pair of 

 mosquitoes united and hovering in a sun-beam, he gently approached them to 

 obtain a better look. Escaping him they flew to the rear of the cabin where, 

 after an irregular flight, they entered the canopy of the bed and alighting re- 

 mained suspended from the under side of the canopy-top. Here the light yellow 

 color of the cloth contrasted well with the dark bodies of the mosquitoes and this 

 proved to be the long desired opportunity. Waiting until they had become well 

 settled he approached cautiously. The female, recognized by the length and 

 stoutness of her body, sat in the ordinary position of mosquitoes ; she clung to the 

 fabric with her front and middle legs, the two hind legs elevated in a half- 

 circle above her wings. The male, on the contrary, had assumed a different 

 attitude. The smaller size of his body and the necessity of obtaining union with 

 the female, who did not seem inclined to incommode herself, left him apparently 

 less at ease. His two greatly elongated front legs alone held him to the top of 

 the canopy while with the other four legs he grasped the female. In spite of 

 their movements, the commander was able to study them well and settle all 

 doubts. An involuntary move on his part, caused by the rolling of the vessel, 

 startled the pair from its resting-place. Still united they tried to obtain a new 

 hold, but without success, and finally flew off and were lost to view, having prob- 

 ably separated. 



" From his observations Godeheu de Eiville concluded that copulation in mos- 

 quitoes does not last long, takes place very quickly in comparison with other flies, 

 and appears to occur only in the air. He considers that the attitude assumed 

 does not permit them to alight, and that the one couple thus observed was a rare 

 exception. ISTone of the many other couples which he attempted to observe more 

 closely came to a resting position." 



