CULIClDvE. 21 



the male a long dense plumosity; last two joints slender and 

 bare, or nearly so. Thorax ovate, arched, but not projecting 

 over the head, without transverse suture ; scutellum narrow ; 

 metanotum arched. Abdomen long and narrow, somewhat 

 flattened, composed of eight segments ; male genitalia promi- 

 nent; ovipositor short. Legs long and slender ; the coxae not 

 elongated ; the tarsi long. Wings while at rest lying flat over 

 the abdomen ; long and narrow, with numerous veins ; the 

 hind margin fringed, and the costal vein encircles the entire 

 wing ; auxiliary vein distinct, terminating near the middle of 

 the anterior border; second and fourth longitudinal veins fur- 

 cate ; third vein simple, arising beyond the middle of the wing ; 

 fifth vein simple ; sixth and seventh reaching to the margin 

 of the wing; anterior cross-vein situated beyond the middle of 

 the wing, rectangular ; two basal cells present, elongate. 



The family Culicidae, or mosquitoes, comprises nearly two 

 hundred known species, distributed in all parts of the world. 

 They will be best distinguished from the nearly related Chiro- 

 nomidae by the elongate proboscis, and by the wings having a 

 vein along the posterior border. The name mosquito is a 

 Spanish and Portuguese diminutive of Mosca, and is sometimes 

 applied to members of the Simuliidae, but it is better restricted 

 to this family. 



The female mosqiiito deposits her eggs to the number of 

 between two and three hundred in little boat-shaped masses 

 on the surface of still water. The larvae are hatched in a few 

 days and escape from the lower end ; here they grow rapidly, 

 at times moving quickly, at other times resting quietly near 

 the surface, breathing through the stigmatic tube at the tail, 

 which tube has at its end a fringe of hairs that serves to close 

 the opening when under water, and to suspend the larvae from 

 the surface while breathing. They are usually known as 

 "wrigglers". The head in the larva is fully differentiated 

 and usually has eyes ; the jaws are thickly ciliated and fringed 

 with hairs, by means of which a current of water is produced 



