58 



SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 139 



given by Robinson (1939). After feeding, the maxillary stylets are 

 retracted, the female braces herself against the skin of the victim with 

 her legs, and forcibly pulls out the fascicle of stylets, which again 

 is ensheathed in the straightened labium. 



In discussing the feeding of mosquitoes, we must not overlook 

 the fact that not all females are bloodsuckers. A prominent exception 

 to the rule are species of Toxorhynchites, in which both sexes feed on 



B , 



Fig. 21. — Successive stages in the penetration of the stylets of a female 

 mosquito feeding on blood. (B, C, from Gordon and Lumsden, 1939, with neck 

 plate added.) 



nectar or other plant juices. In this genus (fig. 22 D) the proboscis is 

 very long, tapering, and strongly decurved. The maxillary palpi pro- 

 jecting from the base of the proboscis are long and four-segmented. 

 The laciniae by contrast are weak and taper into filaments reaching 

 only a little beyond the end of the first palpal segment; evidently they 

 play no part in feeding. A slender labrum extends to the tip of the 

 proboscis, but mandibles appear to be absent. 



Then there are species of Malaya (= Harpagomyia) that get their 



