June,i 9 o6.] KNAB : GOELDl'S " Os MOSQUITOS NO PARA." 7S 



The female of Culex fatigans, in ovipositing, shows great piedilection 

 for water containing animal matter. A vessel in which the skulls of 

 several small mammals were being macerated after two or three days 

 contained a great number of egg-boats — at least ioo or 200 — and 

 further tests gave the same result. This fact could be utilized and the 

 mosquitoes induced to lay their eggs in trap-jars, where the eggs could 

 then be destroyed. Unfortunately the details of the larval characters 

 given in the text and figures are insufficient and will not serve to sep- 

 arate this species from Culex pipiens. The author himself calls atten- 

 tion to the close resemblance between the two larvae, but wisely re- 

 marks that it would be premature to pronounce upon the relative value 

 of these two forms. He urges that describers should be exact and 

 adopt a standard for description, else a labyrinth of error and con- 

 fusion must result. 



Culex confirmatus is noticed in Para mostly in the dry season and 

 frequents dry fields and gardens when water is present in ditches or 

 natural depressions. It was noticeably abundant in a garden near Rio 

 de Janeiro, and showed itself impertinent and besieged one in clouds 

 of ten or twelve. It is diurnal and loves the light, and people are 

 mostly troubled by it during the hottest hours with burning sun. 

 The author questions that Grabham could have had the same species 

 under observation when he states that "this species appears to be 

 active only during the night." As a matter of fact, neither the larva 

 characterized by Grabham (Can. Ent., v. 37, p. 404-405) nor by 

 Dyar (Journ. N. Y. Ent. Soc, v. 13, p. 23-25) in the least resemble 

 that figured by the present writer. The larva figured cannot be of 

 this species, but is a Culex in the restricted sense, and the author cor- 

 rectly points out its relationship to our Culex territans. The large 

 and stout antennae bear a tuft at the set-off three-fourths from the base, 

 and the breathing tube is extremely long and slender. The author 

 twice succeeded in obtaining eggs from captive females fed with 

 guinea-pig blood. The eggs are lanceolate-oval and are laid singly. 



In the larva of the Culex sp. iuJet. from the forest of Murutucii 

 close to Para, attention is called to the pointed form of the anal gills, 

 resembling those of the Psorophora. The figure of the labial plate is 

 very characteristic, the pecten teeth of breathing tube bear a fringe of 

 spines and the scales of the comb are large and simple. Doubt is, 

 however, thrown on these characters by the two figures of antennae, of 

 entirely different types, for this same species and leads one to infer that 

 the author has confused two species. 



