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THE LARVAE OF MALAYAN ANOPHELES. 



By A. T. Stanton, 

 Institute for Medical Research, Kuala Lumpur, Federated Malay States. 



Introductory. 



It was long ago recognised by students of the biology of mosquitos that differences 

 in certain larval characters could be employed for the separation of the Culicidae 

 into groups and even for the recognition of individual species. Present-day know- 

 ledge of this subject in relation to the AnopheUne group is largely based on the 

 work of Grassi in Italy and James and Christophers in India. 



It has been stated that in Anophehne larvae the characters are not sufficiently 

 constant to be reliable for the identification of species. Recent studies have shown, 

 however, that those differences which were formerly beheved to be variations in the 



Fig. I. Diagram to show position of hairs on dorsal 

 surface of the head of an Anopheles larva (for ex- 

 planation see text). 



larva of a single species, are in reality changes of a constant kind associated with 

 successive phases of its gro\vth and that there is a high degree of constancy in the 

 specific characters of larvae at identical stages of growth. In the examination of 

 many thousands of Anopheline larvae taken in the Malay Peninsula and neighbouring 

 islands, it has been possible to recognise with certainty the larvae of most of the species 

 found in this region. A certain assemblage of characters is diagnostic of the species. 



The characters which have been found useful for the identification of species are 

 the form and relative position of certain appendages of the cuticle, hairs and similar 

 structures, designed to subserve functions of sensation and the maintenance of 



