638 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLV. No. 1173 



under this name in the book, but at the end 

 of the account the opinion is expressed that 

 Say's quadrimaculatus was really the species 

 described as Anopheles occidentalis. This is 

 determined from Say's locality, " !N"orth-west 

 Territory." Accordingly we are told that 

 Anopheles guttulatus Harris should be 

 adopted, although it was published without 

 any description. This seems inadmissible, 

 and we turn to the next available naxae, A. 

 annulimanus, which " is said " to belong here. 

 But after all, the quadrimaculatus of authors 

 occurs as far northwest as Wisconsin, and it 

 does not appear perfectly evident that it is 

 not Say's insect. A. annulimanus was also 

 from Wisconsin. 



The full citation of localities is much to be 

 commended. It might have been still fuller, 

 but for the unfortunate habit of a former 

 curator, of throwing away what he regarded 

 as duplicates. The present reviewer eagerly 

 turned to this mass of information for light 

 on a practical problem in which he is in- 

 terested. In the course of the war, it will be 

 necessary to establish large camps and hos- 

 pitals, partly for training purposes, partly 

 for wounded and invalided soldiers, partly, no 

 doubt, eventually for prisoners. It will be de- 

 sirable to place these camps or hospitals near 

 distributing centers, but also in regions where 

 the climate is favorable and the malaria mos- 

 quito is absent. In the presence of Ano- 

 pheles, men carrying malaria organisms in 

 their blood will constitute a menace to other 

 soldiers and to the civilian population. The 

 exact distribution of Anopheles accordingly 

 becomes a matter of importance. On map- 

 ping the recorded distribution from the new 

 volume, it was found that records were lack- 

 ing from Quebec, Rhode Island, Vermont, 

 Delaware, Ohio, Alabama, Iowa, Oklahoma, 

 Nebraska, N. Dakota, S. Dakota, Minnesota, 

 Wyoming, Montana and Saskatchewan. Ob- 

 viously in the majority of these cases the 

 absence of records is due to lack of sufficient 

 collections. Ohio, Delaware, etc., certainly 

 possess the same Anopheles as all the sur- 

 rounding states. There is, however, a real 

 blank on the map, covering Montana, Wyom- 



ing, the eastern part of Colorado, ISTebraska, 

 the Dakotas, Iowa and Minnesota. It is not 

 to be supposed that Anopheles is actually ab- 

 sent over all this area, but it must be rela- 

 tively scarce, and over a considerable region 

 is probably altogether lacking. 



In ISfew Mexico, the southern and Pacific 

 A. pseudopunctipennis gets as far north as 

 Las Vegas Hot Springs. In Colorado, A. 

 quadrimaculatus comes over from Utah as far 

 as Delta County, on the western slope. This 

 same insect is common eastward, in Hlinois, 

 Indiana, Missouri, etc., and it may occur right 

 across the country. More exact investiga- 

 tions, which are planned, may be expected to 

 determine whether this is the case. 



In order to form an opinion whether the 

 apparent lack of Anopheles in the region just 

 cited was wholly due to the absence of col- 

 lections of mosquitoes, I listed all the re- 

 ported species of the states involved. Mon- 

 tana has no less than ten recorded species, 

 Colorado six, North and South Dakota each 

 three, Nebraska two, Iowa seven, Minnesota 

 and Wyoming one each. Evidently collecting 

 is greatly needed in several of these states, 

 and the apparent absence of Anopheles re- 

 quires confirmation. It is to be remarked, 

 however, that if it should prove to be scattered 

 here and there over the western plains and 

 valleys, it will probably be absent in several 

 localities, and often when present so localized 

 that it can readily be exterminated 



It is a singular thing that there seems to be 

 an almost total absence of any endemic mos- 

 quito fauna in the central arid region. The 

 few species found are mostly widespread, the 

 only partial exceptions being a few Aedes. A. 

 nigromaculis is peculiar to the arid western- 

 central regions, south to the Mexican State of 

 Cl)ihuahua. A. fletcheri belongs to the prai- 

 ries of western Canada and adjacent United 

 States. A. idahoensis is from Idaho, Mon- 

 tana and Nevada, and A. aldnchi so far from 

 Idaho only. There is no series of peculiar 

 forms, such as Dyar found in the mountains of 

 California, or such as occurs in parts of 

 Canada. 



The total number of species described from 



