INSECUTOR INSCITI.^ MENSTRUUS 47 



Culex comitatus Dyar and Knab. 



Males were taken swarming in daisy bushes just before and 

 after dusk, in the city. No definite swarm was seen, the males 

 flying in and over the flowers rather independently of each 

 other. They did not congregate over the bushes, nor in con- 

 nection with prominent objects, an adjoining fence being higher 

 than the bushes, but neglected by the mosquitoes. Apparently 

 they swarmed about the flowers, to which the females may 

 possibly be attracted. The natural breeding places of this 

 species are unknown Larvae have been taken only in arti- 

 ficial receptacles, such as water barrels. 



Culex erythrothorax Dyar. 



This species is closely confined to permanent ponds contain- 

 ing cat-tails. The adults rest in the reeds and only bite per- 

 sons coming close to or in the water. The bite is not painful, 

 but leaves an unsightly red blotch that lasts for several days, 

 without swelling. Most of the breeding places of this species 

 had been washed out and destroyed by the unusual floods of 

 the preceding winter, but one undisturbed pool was found 

 near the mouth of the San Diego River. The pool was about 

 50 by 300 feet in size, the water deep, the cat-tails growing 

 in a fringe along the shore at a depth of about three feet. 

 Masses of Lemna were lodged in the reeds, though the main 

 part of the pond was open. Fish were present, the pond 

 being occasionally visited by fishermen with hook and line. 

 Red-winged blackbirds frequented the reeds, which held many 

 of their nests with eggs and young. These birds doubtless 

 furnish the normal blood supply to the mosquitoes and must 

 be seriously annoyed by them. 



In the Lemna, among the cat-tails, the larvae of erythro- 

 thorax occurred in numbers. Eggs were obtained in the pool 

 and from captured females that had bitten. The egg-boat is 

 rather small, of usual shape, more pointed at one end than 

 the other, containing from 80 to 100 eggs. The mature larva 

 has a very long tube and is deeply pigmented, distinctly black- 

 ish. Young larvae appear banded, the central pigment being 



