174 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



According to the conclusions arrived at by the authors the mosquitoes form a 

 sub-family of the Diptera and are divisible into two tribes only — Sabethini and 

 Culicini. The two remaining and generally accepted tribes of Anophelini and 

 Megarhinini are not recognised as such and are merely given group rank under 

 the Culicini. In all, 382 species belonging to 25 genera are treated in this 

 monograph, and of these 214 species included in 16 genera are dealt with in the 

 volume under review. In spite of these comparatively large numbers, however, 

 we are assured that many more species undoubtedly occur within the area under 

 consideration, as but few parts have been at all adequately explored, and many 

 large tracts, including the whole of Arctic North America, remain practically 

 untouched. Preceding the detailed accounts of the genera and species are a 

 few pages devoted to short statements regarding the definition of mosquitoes 

 and their position among other insects, the characters employed in the tables 

 and the geographical area covered by the work ; an historical sketch of the 

 classification of mosquitoes is also provided. The taxonomic portion of the book 

 opens with the tribe Sabethini, in which 8 genera and 85 species are minutely 

 considered, and the original descriptions of the unidentified genera Goeldia 

 and Isostomyia are incorporated and remarked upon. Six of the species 

 allocated to this tribe and described in this work are new to science. Of 

 the tribe Culicini, 8 genera and 129 species receive attention and include 

 descriptions of seven new species and a new sub-genus (Climacura) of Culex, 

 which has been erected for the reception of the aberrant form Culex melanurus, 

 Coq. This tribe is divided into four groups on general relationship— Deinoceri- 

 tines with three genera, Culicines with eleven genera, Megarhinines with the 

 single genus Megarhinus, and Anophelines with the genera Anopheles and 

 Ccelodiazesis. In this volume the Deinoceritine group and the genera Culex, 

 Carollia, Lutzia, Culiseta and Mansonia of the Culicines are discussed. The 

 information relating to these forms and the members of the Sabethini is ex- 

 haustive and is arranged in an admirable and methodical manner. In each 

 case the general tribal characters of the adults, larvae and pupa?, are first 

 enumerated and are followed by remarks on the evolution and affinities of various 

 genera or groups and accounts of their distribution and bionomics. Separate 

 synoptic tables of the genera according to adult characters, male genitalia, and, 

 as far as possible, larval stiucture are then given. Detailed treatment of each 

 genus ensues : complete synonymy and homonymy, with references and noti- 

 fication of the type species, generic diagnoses of the adult and larva, remarks 

 upon relationships, synonymy and bionomics, and series of dichotomic tables of 

 the species (based on the structure and coloration of the adults, the male 

 genitalia, and the larvae) are set forth in the above order. The various species 

 of the genus are then dealt with on similar lines. Whenever possible descriptions 

 of both sexes, the male genitalia, and the larvae are given in addition to the 

 original descriptions of the type and more important synonyms ; much interesting 

 and important information regarding the distribution, synonymy, and bionomics 

 of each species is also included. 



The production of this exhaustive treatise must have entailed a vast amount 

 of work both in the field and the laboratory, and the authors are to be sincerely 

 congratulated upon the results of their labours. They have produced a work 

 which has a distinct value of its own ; as such it may justly be regarded as 

 indispensable to all who make a study of these insects, whether the forms in 

 question be indigenous to the regions covered by this work or not. 



H. F. C. 



