MOSQUITOS OF THE PALAEARCTIC REGION. 305 



7. Aedes (Ochlerotatus) semicantans, Martini (fig. 7 b). 



Aedcs semicantans, Martini, Arch. f. Schiffs- und Tropenhyg. xxiv, Beiheft 1, 

 p. 247 (1920) (diagnosis only), and Sitzb. u. Abh. natf. Ges. Rostock, vii, 

 p. 205 (1920). 



Resembles A . maculatus in coloration, being darker than the other four species 

 of the group ; the mesonotum has a more definite dark median stripe than in 

 A. maculatus, and the abdominal segments have distinct basal white bands, which are 

 narrowed in the middle, but the two are not easily separated, except by characters 

 of the male hypopygium and larva, which are perfectly distinct. The hind femora 

 are largely pale on the outer side, and the tarsal rings are broader than in A . maculatus. 

 One or two North American species resemble this rather closely, but I have not at 

 present been able to identify A. semicantans definitely with any North American 

 form. The larva is very distinct on account of the small number of scales in the 

 comb of the eighth segment. 



Distribution. — Northern Europe ; apparently widely distributed, but local. 

 I have seen males from Sweden (Smaland, Boheman) ; Germany (Hamburg, Martini ; 

 Berlin, Stobhc ; Posen ?, Loew) ; Austria? [coll. Winthcm). 



8. Aedes (Ochlerotatus) annulipes (Meigen) (fig. 7 e). 



Culex annulipes, Meigen, Syst. Beschr. vi,.p. 241 (1830). 



Aedes quartus. Martini, Uber Stechmiicken, p. 128 (1920). 



Meigen mentions the dark stripe in the middle of the mesonotum, the banded 

 abdomen and pale femora, and I therefore have no doubt that the species is correctly 

 identified. Zetterstedt, Ficalbi and others who have described the entirely yellow 

 abdomen of the female probably had A. lutesccns before them. In this species the 

 abdomen almost always has distinct yellowish-white bands, which are situated 

 mainly or entirely at the bases of the segments. 



The larva is of the short-siphoned type, apparently identical with that of 

 A. maculatus (except that the siphon is slightly shorter on the average), but very 

 distinct from that of A. excrucians. It occurs typically in open swamps. 



Distribution. — I have examined male specimens from England (various localities) ; 

 Holland (Ghent, Theobald) ; Belgium (Wesembeek, Tonnoir) ; Germany (Urdingen. 

 Riedel; Berlin, Oldenberg) ; Lower Austria (Speising, Mik) ; Hungary (Pressburg, 

 Mik ; Tultscha, Mann). A female from Sweden (Ostergotland. Haglund) may be 

 this species, but is perhaps more probably A. excrucians. Martini records it from 

 the neighbourhood of Hamburg and Dantzig. It may be regarded as the western 

 European representative of A. excrucians, though the ranges of the two species 

 must overlap to some extent. 



9. Aedes (Ochlerotatus) excrucians (Walker) (fig. 7 f). 



Culex excrucians. Walker, Ins. Saund. Dipt. p. 429 (1856). 



Culex abfitchii. Felt, Bull. N.Y. State Mus. 79, p. 381 (1904) ; et auct. 



(?) CtiUcada sitrcoufi, Theobald, Bull. Mus. Paris, xviii, p. 59 (1912). 



Aedes excrucians, Dyar, Insecutor Inscitiae, vii, p. 25 (1919), and viii, p. 109 

 (1920). 



This species is most nearly allied to A . anmdipes, but the abdomen is less distinctly 

 banded, the dark bands being reduced to a more or less diamond-shaped spot on each 

 segment ; the dark colour is often more extensive in the female. The mesonotum 

 usually has some obscure markings ; rarely a distinct, broad, dark median stripe 

 as in A. annulipes. The difference of structure in the male claspettes is slight but 

 well defined. I can see no difference between American and European specimens, 

 except that in the former the pale markings are cream-coloured rather than yellowish. 



A. excrucians is evidently one of the commonest species of the group on the 

 European continent (it has been described by Martini as A. abfitchii), and it is therefore 



