100 American Midland Naturalist Monograph No. 3 



Genus Uranotaenia Lynch Arribalzaga 



Uranotaenia Lynch Arribalzaga, 1891, Rev. Mus. de La Plata, 1:375. 



The genus Uranotaenia includes numerous species of small, usually highly 

 ornamented, mosquitoes well distributed throughout the tropical and subtrop- 

 ical regions of the world. The members of this genus are of no economic 

 importance and appear rarely to feed upon man. They are frequently found 

 associated with larvae of Anopheles, with which they may be confused by the 

 collector in the field, since they rest nearly horizontal with the surface of the 

 water. Two species are indigenous in the southern states, U. lowii and U. 

 sapphir'tna. 



salient characters. — Adult: Pul villi absent. Posterior pronotal and 

 spiracular bristles reduced in numbers; postspiracular bristles absent. Squama 

 without fringe; fork of vein 2 much shorter than its stem; microtrichiae minute, 

 not visible under low magnification. Palpi very short in both sexes. Male Ter- 

 minalia: Phallosome divided into a pair of heavily sclerotized, strongly toothed 

 plates. Tenth sternite vestigial, not supporting the anal membrane. Claspettes 

 absent. Basistyle short, stout. Larva: Anal segment completely ringed by the 

 dorsal plate. Siphon with pecten and a single pair of subventral tufts. Comb 

 of eighth segment consisting of a single row of scales on the posterior margin 

 of a sclerotized plate. Head usually longer than broad, heavily sclerotized; 

 antenna short, smooth or nearly so. Lower and upper head hairs (B and C) 

 single, stout, spine-like in the species of the southern United States. 



Keys to the Species 



adult females 



Scutum without a narrow median longitudmal stripe of iridescent blue scales; hind 

 tarsi with apex of 3rd and entire 4th and 5th segments white scaled; abdomen 

 with prominent lateral apical patches of iridescent blue scales on segments III, 

 V, and VI loTvli Theob., p. 101 



Scutum with a narrow median longitudinal stripe of iridescent blue scales; tarsi 

 entirely dark scaled; abdomen without lateral apical patches of iridescent blue 

 scales sapphirina (O. S.), p. 104 



MALE TERMINALIA 



Dististyle strongly swollen, only about twice as long as wide, bluntly terminating in 

 a crown of about 15 to 20 short, stout, curved spines; phallosome without a 

 lateral thorn-like process subapically lowii Theob., p. 101 



Dististyle not strongly swollen, about 4 or 5 times as long as wide, with apical third 

 tapered and bearing a short subapical spine-like claw preceded by several short 



setae; phallosome with a large lateral thorn-like process subapically 



sapphirina (O. S.), p. 104 



LARVAE (fourth INSTAr) 



Upper lateral hairs of abdominal segment I and II double, the lower, single; pro- 

 thoracic dorsal submedian hair group composed of about 7 long, heavy, serrated 



hairs, the longest extending to the bases of the upper head spines (C) 



....lowii Theob., p. 101 



Upper lateral hairs of abdominal segments I and II triple, the lower, single; pro- 

 thoracic dorsal submedian hair group composed of 2 long, heavy serrated hairs 



