228 THE MOSQUITOES OF NEW JERSEY 



tracheal system in the anal processes of the larva, so we have really a 

 gill structure, by means of which the insect gets its supply of oxygen 

 directly from the water. 



Briefly stated, the life history is as follows : The insect winters in the 

 larval stage, freezing and thawing as often as need be during that sea- 

 son. It pupates late in May and becomes adult a week or ten days later. 

 Eggs are laid in the leaves singly or in small groups fastened to the 

 sides or floating on the surface. The summer broods mature in about a 

 month, and there are probably three if not four series, but the broods 

 overlap so much that the breeding is practically continuous. Late in the 

 season the adults select the new leaves for oviposition even if they are 

 yet dry. 



D. W. Coquillett tells me that he has the species from Florida, where 

 it breeds in the leaves of an orchidaceous plant growing on trees. 



Megarhinus septentrionalis Dyar and Knab 

 The Long- Beaked Mosquito 



DISTKIBUTION AND CHARACTERIZATION 



[Southeastern United States. No females have been trapped from 

 1932 to 1941 inclusive. 



Large highly colored with violet, blue, white, and yellow.] 



DESCRIPTION 



Howard, Dyar, and Knab (14) furnish the following description: 

 "Female. Proboscis rather long, curved, tapering to a point. Palpi 

 about two-thirds the length of the proboscis; long joint stout, some- 

 what compressed, with a constriction at basal two-fifths ; penultimate 

 joint stout, cylindrical, about two-fifths the length of long joint; ter- 

 minal joint minute; vestiture metallic dark violet and blue, profusely 

 sprinkled with golden scales, particularly at the sides ; apices of seg- 

 ments pale lilac. Antennae filiform, slender, the joints subequal, with 

 basal whorls of sparse hairs ; second joint elongate, about twice as long 

 as the succeeding one, stouter, a crest of erect dark scales along basal 

 two-thirds ; tori black with silvery pruinosity. Clypeus transverse, 

 broadly rounded, black with silvery pruinosity. Occiput covered with 

 flat, brilliant blue scales, ocular margins silvery; cheeks and head be- 

 neath silvery scaled. 



"Prothoracic lobes prominent, covered with broad, flat, brilliant blue 

 scales and bearing a few coarse black setae. Mesonotum clothed with 



