264 



F. W. EDWARDS. 



Asia as far as the Himalayas ; North China ; Japan. Mosquitos have been more 

 or less carefully collected over practically the whole of this area, the least known 

 portions being perhaps North Russia and North and Central Siberia. Spain also 

 has not yet been thoroughly worked. Iceland should be included in the area, but 

 no mosquitos have yet been recorded or received from that country. 



The study of the various collections enumerated above indicates that the mosquito 

 fauna is fairly homogeneous over the greater part of the area, but there are two parts 

 which, so far as this group of animals is concerned, would seem to be better classed 

 in the Oriental region. These are the area immediately round the head of the Persian 

 Gulf, and the southern islands of Japan, at least as far north at Tokio. In the former 

 area there is a very large, perhaps a predominating admixture of (3riental forms, 

 while round Tokio the fauna appears to be of an almost purely Oriental type. If 

 these two areas had been excluded from consideration, the number of species dealt 

 with would have been much less ; but it was thought that the usefulness of this 

 paper might be increased by keeping to the wider limits. 



The total number of species dealt with is as follows : — 



Anopheles, 19. 

 Uranotaenia, 2. 

 Rachionotomyia, 1 . 

 Megarhimis, 3. 

 Theohaldia, 7. 



Orthopodomyia, 1. 

 Taeniorhynchns, 1. 

 Aedes, 38. 

 Armigeres, 1. 

 Lutzia, 1. 

 Cidex, 20. 



The faunistic relationship of these species may be analysed as follows 



The remaining 70 species may be said to comprise the true Palaearctic fauna 

 (though a number of them spread into adjoining regions). As might be expected, 

 there are considerable differences between the North European and the Mediterranean 

 faunas. The former shows very strong affinities with the Nearctic fauna, and a con- 

 siderable number of the species seem to be common to both Europe and North 

 America, while others have obviously representative forms in the two regions. The 

 species which I consider either identical or only varietally distinct are : Anopheles 

 maculipennis, Theohaldia alaskaensis, Aedes dorsal is, A. Intescens, A. excrucians, 

 A. alpinus, A. cataphylla, A. diantaeiis, A. sticticus, A. punctor, A. communis, 

 A. intnidens.A. pullatus, A.vexans, A. cinereus, Culex apicalis, C.pipiens. Nearly 

 all these species are already known to occur throughout Europe and Siberia, and the 

 two faunas may therefore be assumed to have mixed at a recent date by way of 

 Eastern Siberia and Alaska. In one or two cases {e.g.. Anopheles macitlipennis) 

 there seems to be definite evidence that the European fauna is more closely allied 

 to that of Western than that of Eastern North America. 



