FAMILY CULICIDAE 187 



condition which is also seen in the larvae of some Chironomidae 

 (Forcipomyia) . 



In order to breed out Phlebotomus from the egg a number of replete 

 females should be caught and kept in a large test tube together with 



some moist filter paper ; the mouth of the tube should 



.... r .. , , Breeding technique 



be covered with a piece or muslin and not with the 



ordinary mosquito netting. Males, if they can be caught, should be 

 kept with the females and the tube placed in a cupboard. When the 

 eggs are laid they should be transferred with the aid of a fine brush 

 to some moist organic matter such as the remains of an insect ; if 

 they adhere too firmly to the filter paper, the piece should be cut out. 

 It is sometimes possible to raise a few flies in this way, but the task 

 is not an easy one and requires constant attention. 



Marett has successfully bred out P. papatasi in a test tube on the 

 sides and the bottom of which be placed the excreta of lizards and 

 wood lice, first moistening it with water. After the flies had paired the 

 females were transferred to the prepared test tubes, and were fed as soon 

 as the previous meal had been digested. After the eggs were laid, 

 the tubes were kept moist by daily adding a drop of water, and by 

 wetting the cotton plug. The larvae hatched in from six to eight 

 days, and were then transferred to a petri dish by filling the tube 

 with water, which was then poured on to filter paper cut to fit the 

 dish. The larvae float and later come to lie on the excreta. It is 

 important to avoid an excess of moisture. 



Slender Nematocera with either a long forwardly directed proboscis 

 adapted for piercing in the female, or with a short proboscis. The head 

 is small and spherical in shape; the eyes are reniform ; ocelli 

 wanting. The antenna is slender and is composed of fourteen or fifteen 

 joints, the basal one being globular, and either bare or hairy; the re- 

 maining segments are covered with hairs ; it is plumose in the male, and 

 pilose in the female. The thorax may be arched, and there is no 

 transverse suture. The scutellum is narrow, and may be unilobed or 

 trilobed. The metanotum may be hidden, or visible, when it is usually 

 arched. The abdomen is elongated and somewhat flattened, and is 

 composed of eight or nine segments ; the male genitalia are prominent, 

 and the ovipositor is short. The legs are long and slender, the coxae 

 comparatively short, the tarsi are elongated, and the claws toothed in the 



