172 PROCEEDINGS OP THE ROYAL SOCIETY OP QUEENSLAND. 



larvae — in the writer's opinion, such as it is, an anomalous 

 feature of descriptive biology, and if a crude analogy can be 

 drawn, the converse of von Baer's great law of embryonic 

 generalisation — then the pupa of M. bancrofti presents a 

 notable distinction amongst the Culicidse. The caudal fins 

 are rather striking by reason of their relative diminutiveness. 

 The fans are also closely approximated and do not show any 

 tendency to lateral spreading. 



Microscopic Structure. — The mottled stripes of the cephalo- 

 thorax roughly correspond to the lines marked out by the wing 

 venation and the forked cell markings are clearly seen. The 

 breathing trumpets are small, broad and triangular. There 

 is a pair of large tree-Hke plumes of much-branched setse at 

 the base of the cephalothorax. 



On each of the sides of the abdominal segments 2 to 6 is a 

 short stout bluntly pointed and strongly chitinised spur. 

 Each segment has a pair of branched setse, each of which 

 branches from a short stalk into 5 more or less equal and 

 regularly disposed " hairs." There are also minute bifid and 

 trifid " hairs " on each segment. The seventh segment bears a 

 pair of small plumes of peculiarly branched hairs on the posterior 

 angles. 



The "leaves" of the caudal fin are hyaline, each stiffened 

 in the ordinary way by a midrib, which latter shows a double 

 contour, is very faintly striated transversely, and weakly 

 chitinised, but ending in a short, highly chitinised spur or 

 " bristle." 



Note on the Taxonomic Position of Myzorhynchus 

 bancrofti. 



Taylor (1911),'^ after having examined specimens of M. 

 bancrofti in conjunction with those of 31. barbirostris v. d. W. 

 from Ptiilippine Islands, came to the conclusion that the former 

 should be classed as a variety of the latter ; he evidently 

 assumed that the older-described species should necessarily be 

 the one of longer standing (in nature), but, even if there be 

 grounds for the justification of this sort of reasoning, the present 

 writer is of opinion that one should be careful in drawing con- 

 clusions on hasty premises, the more so when it is said that 



* Taylor, F. H. : Report of the Australian Institute of Tropical 

 Medicine, 1911. 



