MOSQUITO BIOLOGY 127 



Dorsum of thorax grayish white and has broad black band in center, 

 becoming wide and rounded posteriorly. Pleura chestnut brown, almost 

 covered with patches of silvery white scales. Femora black, yellowish 

 beneath and with whitish spot at knee; tibiae black, paler beneath; 

 tarsi wholly black. Claws of male anterior and middle tarsal joints 

 unequal in size, larger evenly curved, with single median tooth, smaller 

 almost straight with median tooth slightly nearer base ; claws of poste- 

 rior tarsal joints equal and simple. Claws of female equal on all feet; 

 those of anterior and middle tarsal joints single-toothed, posterior 

 simple like male. 



Abdomen black, with brown hairs on apical margin of anterior seg- 

 ments, extending backward over those following. Beneath creamy 

 white, with pure white basal marks extending up sides and coming well 

 upon dorsal surface in posterior segments ; apical segment yellowish. 

 In male white marks sometimes cross abdomen as narrow basal bands. 



HABITS OF THE ADULT 



This is rather a handsome species and one that is rarely found out- 

 side of woodland or its immediate vicinity. Records of captures of adult 

 or early stages indicate that it occurs throughout the state. 



It is one of the species that winters in the egg stage, either under 

 water on in a place where water is likely to come in early spring. The 

 adult lays its eggs as near to the surface of the water as possible, at the 

 very edge of the vessel or cavity selected for a breeding place, and 

 these eggs hatch, after a suitable period for development, when they 

 become covered with water. 



The earliest date that I have for adults is June 1, when the species 

 was the common form found on the dams around the cranberry mead- 

 ows at Lahaway, and from that date until October adults were taken in 

 some parts of the state. It is not a common mosquito, but is easily 

 captured, never indoors, but on porches surrounded by trees. The 

 species bites readily and hard. It is no traveler, probably never moving 

 farther from its place of birth than is necessary to find a place for 

 oviposition. It does not fly normally until evening. 



DESCRIPTION OF THE LARVA 



Thorax broader than long, slightly angulated at sides. Six rather 

 short lateral tufts, two smaller on anterior margin and two very small 

 on dorsum, near anterior margin. Abdominal segments subquadrate in 

 anterior part, becoming elongated posteriorly up to segment seven, and 

 giving larva very disproportionate appearance. Each segment has four 



