155 



when the shadows grew long, and the sunbeams golden, the males arise and dance 

 up and down; the dance is very close to the ground, only about one-third to half 

 a meter from the tops of the nettles. The females alter their places; they now 

 hang out from the edges of the leaves, and the hindlegs are. often moved either 

 voluntarily or by the light evening breeze. On studying the females a little more 

 closely, we shall see that they are almost all very thick, with a blood-filled intes- 

 tine; the blood is black, i. e. 

 the blood-meal has taken pla- 

 ce some days ago; as mention- 

 ed above most of the scale 

 vestiture of the abdomen and 

 of the legs is lost; the mosqui- 

 toes shining a bright yellow. 

 More than once I saw a male 

 during the dance touch the 

 hindlegs of the female, stretch- 

 ed out into the air. At the 

 very same moment the female 

 released its hold, and the ma- 

 ting process took place; but I 

 also very often saw a female 

 voluntarily release its hold 

 and make her way into the 

 swarm of dancing males. The 

 pairing was always begun and 

 accomplished during flight; it 

 lasted only from 50 to 70 se- 

 conds; the position during the 

 act was vertical, and in this 

 position the insects floated up 



and down, the line from the highest to the lowest point being only half a meter; 

 commonly the dance went on in the very same place, often the light evening breeze 

 carried the mosquitoes a few meters to one of the sides; in the vertical position 

 the sexes were placed face to face. Immediately after the two sexes had found each 

 other, they danced some seconds up and down, grasping each others fore and 

 middle legs; the hindlegs were streched straight out into the air; then I saw the 

 hindlegs being carried inwards, forming a bow with each other; immediately after 

 this the tips of the abdomens were brought against each other, and the pairing 

 took place. Still flying the two sexes released their holds, and both male and female 

 hovered alone in the air; immediately after I have seen the male seize another fe- 

 male and pair with her. BACOT (1916 p. 1) indicates that in S. fasciata one male 

 fertilized 10 out of 21 females. At the same moment I have counted about twenty 



20* 



Textfigure 19. The mating place of 0. fletcheri. Aalholm. Lolland. 



