POSITION AND TERMINOLOGY OF THE CULICID/E 8 



(5) Have a peculiar and often sporadic geographical 

 distribution. 



The GulicidcB, or fleas, are now included in the anoma- 

 lous Nematocera by the majority of authorities. 



Confining our attention to the true Nematocera, the 

 Gulicidas may, for practical purposes, be easily distinguished 

 from the other families by two very obvious characters. 

 The first of these is the possession of the long, suctorial 

 proboscis, which differs markedly from the mouth parts of 

 any insect likely to be confused with them ; and the second 

 is that in all the veins of the wings are fringed with scales 

 like those of butterflies and moths. It is true that the 

 wings of certain genera, such as Molopheles and Bypha- 

 cophua have the veins of the wings scaly, but even in the 

 former the scales are very elongated, while in the latter 

 they are more of the character of hairs, and in both the 

 general arrangement of the scales is of a shaggy and 

 irregular character as compared with that of the Culicidcs, 

 apart from which they present unmistakable differences in 

 the venation of the wings. 



The family that is most easily confused with the Gtili- 

 cid(S is the GhironomidcB or midges, which not only frequent 

 very much the same situations, but in general form so 

 closely resemble the gnats that they can scarcely be dis- 

 tinguished by the naked eye ; but this family has neither 

 the long proboscis nor the scaly wing veins, and a moment's 

 examination with a lens suffices to distinguish them. 



Those who wish to follow more closely the question of 

 the classification of the Nematocera are recommended to 

 consult Mr. F. V. Theobald's "Account of British Flies," 

 which is not only very plainly written, but appears more 

 up to date than most of the accessible works on the subject 

 in the English language. Although as yet it is, unfortu- 

 nately, not completed, it contains a most handy synopsis of 

 the genera of the Order, and will, therefore, be most useful 

 to anyone commencing the study of any group of Diptera, 

 even in tropical regions, for it must be remembered that 

 the Dipterous fauna of India, and most other tropical parts, 

 remains to be written, so that a knowledge of the general 



