338 LIFE STORIES OF AUSTRALIAN INSECTS. 



two broad flaps or tails, with tufts of hairs present 

 also. 



When the adult is about to emerge, the pupa 

 becomes inert, rises to the surface, and does not 

 rush away when touched, as the younger pupae do. 

 The body straightens somewhat, and at last there 

 is a splitting of the pupal shell along the back. 

 The head and thorax emerge, and then the insect 

 has a rest. In a little while it draws itself out of 

 the case, resting its legs on the surface of the 

 water. Its body is more or less vertical while this 

 is going on, and acts as a ''mast" to the little boat- 

 like pupal shell. It at last rests on the surface of 

 the water, ''as lightly as a fairy," and may wait 

 there till its wings dry, or it may walk with dainty 

 footsteps to the reeds, etc., where it rests in more 

 safety till its wings dry, which they do very rapidly. 



The larvaB of mosqiutoea can adapt themselves to 

 many conditions of life. We have found them in 

 stagnant water, in damp mud at the bottom of a 

 porcelain bowl left in the open — they lived here 

 for months in a thin layer of damp mud. We also 

 got them in rock pools of the harbour, where the 

 water rose in high tide, ex. : Woollahra Point and at 

 Maroubra, and other places on the coast. We took 

 some of these larv^ and placed them in fresh water, 

 and they did not seem to be the least put out at 

 the change. The larv^ of these mosquitoes were 

 larger and stouter-looking than those of the 

 common mosquito, Culex alho - anmilatus. These 

 salt-water-loving mosquitoes were identified as 

 Culex vigilax. 





