296 GNATS OK MOSQUITOES — CHAPTER XII 



placed at the posterior V junction. Last three hind tai'sals and 

 apical half of second, with a broad ring on that of first, all pure 

 white ; in the fore and middle legs the upper three tarsals are 

 apically white and the last two dark throughout. Thorax dark 

 brown, with a grey bloom on the metanotum and sparse whitish 

 scales arranged in irregular lines. Abdomen sooty, nude, with 

 golden-brown hairs. 



This is a very darkly- tinted species which can hardly be mistaken for 

 the preceding. The ? lias the last three articulations of the palpi 

 minutely white-ringed, and the hairs at extreme tip also pale. Those 

 of the 3- can hardly be said to be banded, but like his legs, and in 

 contrast to those of the ? , are elaborately speckled with white. 



The two upper fore tarsal points ai'e minutely apically banded, but 

 the mid pair have none, and the first hind tarsal is also unhanded. 

 Length. — 5 to 5*5 mm. 



Habitat. — Katmiga, Sierra Leone, Central Africa. 



Observations. — " With the hind legs destroyed this species looks like 

 A. Sinensis, but the white hind tarsi readily distinguish it. From A. 

 argrjrotarsis it can at once be told by the wings, which have the fringe 

 with only one pale spot at the end of the lower branch of the fifth long 

 vein, whereas in A. argyrotarsis there are several pale areas, and there 

 are never more than two costal spots in this species." (Monog. I, p. 

 129.) 



This species has been shown by Christophers to be capable of 

 harbouring the sexual stage of the parasite of human malaria. 



5. ANOPHELES MAURITIANUS, de Grandpre et de Charmoy. 



" Les Moubtiques," Port Louis. Planters' Gazette Press, 1900. 



= An. Paludis sub-species similis, Thoob. (Monog. I, p. 129.) 



Plate viii, tig. 4. Wing of J . 



Wings almost exactly as in An. paludis, but with the fringe 

 entirely dark, or with a lighter patch opposite the second 

 posterior cell. Only two instead of three of the tarsal hind 

 joints are wholly white, and the white-scaled decoration of 

 the thorax is much better defined, recalling that of An. Lutzii. 



This form closely resembles the above, and Mr. Theobald 

 describes it as a sub-species of that form, under the name of 

 An. similis, sitb. sp. n. Although dated 1900, MM. de Grandpre 

 et d'Gharmoy's publication did not reach us until the sheets of 

 Mr. Theobald's monograph had passed " paged proof," so that 

 his acknowledgment therein of the priority of the above name 

 was impracticable. Apart from the difliculty of defining the 

 status of a species, as compared with sub-species and varieties, 

 the differences, however, appear as well defined, as those between 



