155 



where only A. punctipennis breeds, an outbreak has been reported 

 in Virginia where this was the only species known. This report is 

 made in order to encourage other investigators to record their experi- 

 ences, so that the status of this species as a vector in nature may be 

 determined and compared with that of A. quadrimaculatus and 

 A. crucians. If it is not a vector of serious sanitary importance, a 

 very large amount of work necessary for its control may be avoided. 



KouBAUD (E.). Precisions sur Phormia azurea, Fall., Muscide a Larves 

 hemophages parasites des Oiseaux d'Europe. [Facts concerning 

 Phormia azurea, Fall, a Muscid with blood-sucking Larvae 

 parasitic on Birds in Europe.] — Bull Biol. France et Belgique, 

 Paris, \i, no. 4, 15th December 1917, pp. 420-430, 1 plate. 

 [Received 28th May 1918.] 



Phormia azurea, Fall., has been taken from the nests of swallows, 

 larks and sparrows, and is probably parasitic on various other birds. 

 It is an intermittent blood-sucking parasite and does not hve on the 

 skin of the unfledged birds, but after a meal retires to the sides of the 

 nest. Experimentally the larva can be induced to feed on human 

 blood, a bite on the fore-arm obtained in this way causing a local 

 eruption comparable to a severe mosquito bite, still painful after 

 the lapse of a week. Young birds, when attacked, attempt to rid 

 themselves of the parasite, and in cases of severe infestation of the 

 nest some of the brood may even succumb to the attacks of the larvae. 

 During feeding, the larva attaches itself to the skin by means of a 

 suctorial disk on the first post-cephalic segment, the presence of which 

 distinguishes the larva of this species from that of Passeromyia hetero- 

 chaeta, Vill., a blood-sucking parasite of birds in the Congo, and that 

 of the African flies, Auchmeromyia luteola and Choeromyia spp. The 

 larvae of P. azurea are not able to withstand a prolonged fast and died 

 in the laboratory when kept without food for 4 or 5 days. 



P. azurea is parasitised by the Chalcid, Nasonia brevicornis, Ashm., 

 the only parasite known to attack this Muscid, the pupae of which, 

 from a swallow's nest were found to be heavily parasitised. Probably 

 in nature a great number of the pupae of P. azurea are destroyed in 

 this way. 



Freeborn (S. B.). Mosquito Abatement Districts in California. — ■ 



California State Bd. Health Mthly. Bull. Sacramento, xiii, no. 10, 

 . April 1918, pp. 455-459, 2 figs. 



This paper gives a brief outline of the estabhshment of mosquito 

 abatement districts in California since 1903, and gives a list of nine 

 such districts organised during the past three years. 



Headlee (T. J.). Some Recent Advances in Knowledge of the 

 Natural History and the Control of Mosq^mHoqs.— New Jersey Agric. 



Expt. Sta., New Brunswick, Bull. no. 306, 17th October 1916, 

 26 pp. , 10 figs. [Received 30th May 1918.] 



The bulk of this bulletin consists of descriptions of ditching and 

 draining operations carried out in New Jersey for the purpose of 

 (C486) ' a2 



