66 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 52 



Genus LUTZIA Theobald 

 LUTZIA BIGOTII Bellardi 



This large yellow species is prevalent on the Zone and comes 

 quickly and unhesitatingly to bite whenever one visits shady places. 

 The predaceous larv^ are found quite as commonly in artificial re- 

 ceptacles of water around human habitations as in shallow pools in 

 the woods. The larva is easily recognized by its size and by the pecu- 

 liar curved position it assumes, looking as if about to spring upon its 

 prey. The larvae are unquestionably beneficial in destroying other 

 mosquitoes, though they are not a dependable factor for their control. 

 They are very voracious during their growth, and they have, like the 

 larvae of Megarhinus, the habit of killing all surrounding larvae be- 

 fore they pupate, so as to have quiet during the pupal period. In 

 many cases I found Lutda larvse which had completely cleared the 

 receptacle in which they lived of other mosquito larvje. If the food 

 supply runs short before they are ready for pupation, the Litt::ia 

 larvae become cannibalistic, and thus in a measure counteract the 

 value of the species by materially diminishing their own numbers. 



The species was bred from the following localities : From hoof- 

 prints in a meadow near Tabernilla, where the larvae were feeding 

 upon those of Uraiiotccnia calosoniata; from an open lagoon south 

 of San Pablo ; from a rusty iron bucket near a house at Las Cascadas, 

 with no other mosquito larvae present ; from a small temporary pool 

 near Bohio, without any other mosquito larv^ present ; from old 

 French machinery in the woods south of Tabernilla ; here again a 

 few full-grown Lutaia larvae alone remained; from larvae in an old 

 tin can near a house in Pedro Miguel, feeding on Stegoinyia larvae; 

 from large unused sugar boilers near Tabernilla; here the Lutzia 

 larvae were present by the hundreds, preying upon those of Culex 

 coronator. In one of the boilers all the Culex larvae had been eaten 

 and the nearly full-grow^n Lutcia larvae were feeding upon their 

 weaker companions. 



Genus CULEX Linnaeus 

 CULEX INQUISITOR Dyar and Knab 



Bred from larv.x taken along the edges of a slowly running stream 

 near Pedro Miguel ; larvae were also taken in a shaded pool of a 

 drying-up mountain stream along the upper Chagres River. The 

 adults were ol)tained at Las Cascadas by Mr. Jennings. 



