\"ol. xxix] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 269 



jungle where the kixuriant growths furnish ample shade they 

 will attack one as viciously during the day as at night time. 



This mosquito is a persistent biter and thin clothing some- 

 times offers but little protection against them. A thin shirt, 

 if it fits closely, is no defense against their attacks. They will 

 also pierce heavy drill riding breeches, and if the attacks are 

 directed at the knees — where the breeches are usually tight 

 when one is sitting down — they can extract a meal of blood 

 without much difficulty. 



We have confined females of this species in a test tube 

 and then applied the latter to the palm of the hand ; the tough 

 cuticle was pierced and engorgement took place as readily as 

 on a thinner area of the skin. 



When biting the female usually lowers her head and buries 

 the proboscis as deeply as possible in the skin, meanwhile ele- 

 vating the abdomen. As soon as the proboscis is inserted to 

 its full length, the abdomen is lowered until the posterior end 

 practically rests on the skin. The head is then raised and the 

 proboscis slowly withdrawn until only the tip remains in the 

 puncture. The alternate insertion and withdrawal of the pro- 

 boscis, which may be likened to the action of a plunger in a 

 pump, continues until the female becomes gorged. One fe- 

 male was observed to insert and practically withdraw her pro- 

 boscis twelve times during a feeding of two minutes' dura- 

 tion. Although this is the usual mode of prticedure in feed- 

 ing, a few females have been noticed to insert the proboscis 

 as deeply as possible and remain almost motionless, filling 

 with blood slowly but steadily and' occasionally expelling a few 

 small drops of bloody fluid per anum. This sometimes con- 

 tinues for a period exceeding ten minutes. Although females 

 confined in breeding cages when allowed to bite unmolested, 

 are slow in becoming gorged as compared with other vari- 

 eties of mosquitoes, they are very persistent and will gorge 

 themselves nearly to the bursting point. One female was 

 noticed to take blood very slowly, with the mouth part? deeply 

 inserted, and became apparently full of blood in six minutes. 

 She then withdrew the proboscis, walked about a little, and 

 after expelling a few drops of dark-colored fluid from the 

 anus, again inserted the proboscis and began taking more 

 blood. She remained in situ ten minutes this second time. 

 At the end of this period she walked up on the side of the cage 

 and rested, apparently so full of blood that she was unable to 

 fly. 



(To be continued. ) 



