EIGHT NEW MOSQUITOS IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM COLLECTION. 359 



than the second. Thorax : prothoracic lobes reddish brown, apparently without 

 scales ; scutum (mesonotum) reddish brown, slightly pruinose, clothed with reddish 

 brown scales ; scutellum pale, almost whitish, clothed with narrow pale brown 

 scales ; postnotum light reddish brown. Pleurae almost uniformly pale, unsealed. 

 Abdomen blackish brown above, the segments w^ith white basal bands of even width, 

 broader in the male than in the female ; venter almost uniformly pale. Male 

 genitalia : side-pieces of the usual Culex form without special modification, leaf-like 

 appendage very narrow. Claspers (fig. 1) moderate, smooth, gently curved, rather 

 abruptly narrowed a short distance before the tip (as in Cidiciomyia), a single fine hair 

 arising from the point of narrowing. Unci with pointed tips. Harpagones apparently 



Fig. 1. Culex nilgiriciis, Edw., sp. n. ; clasper 

 of nial^ genitalia. 



undivided, but provided with a rather long, pointed, downwardly extending projection, 

 somewhat jagged on its lower edge (as in Culiciomyia). Harpes short and broad, 

 without basal projection, their tips broad and provided with shorter and less numerous 

 spines than usual. Legs dark- scaled, the under sides of the femora lighter ; claws 

 on the four anterior legs of the male each with a well-marked tooth. Wings rather 

 thinly clothed with dark scales, those in the lateral series linear, few in number, 

 except towards the tip of the wing. Fork-cells very long, yet scarcely twice as long 

 as their stems, the upper with its base slightly nearer the apex of the wing than that 

 of the lower. Cross- veins separated by about twice their own length. Halteres light 

 brown. 



Length of body, 6 mm. ; ^ wing, 4*5 mm. ; 5 wing, 5 mm. 



Madras: Utakamand, Nilgiri Hills, 7,500ft., 24-3 l.xii. 1913 {T. Bainhrigge 

 Fletcher). 



1(J 1$ presented to the British Museum by the Agricultural Kesearch Institute, 

 Pusa. 



I have placed this species in Culex owing to the apparent absence of the long out- 

 standing scales of the male palpi and the fact that the flat scales on the head do not 

 reach the middle line round the eyes ; nevertheless it shows unmistakable affinities 

 in its genital characters with the Culiciomyia group. In general appearance also it 

 has an extremely close resemblance to Cidiciomyia viridiventer, Giles, known from 

 several localities in the Himalayas ; apart from the characters just mentioned this 

 species differs chiefly in the male genitalia, which in C. viridiventer are much more 

 speciahsed. In view of the discovery of this species it is more than ever doubtful 

 whether the genus Cidiciomyia can be maintained. 



It is worthy of note that a Culex with spotted wings w^as taken by Mr. Fletcher in 

 the same locality which proved to be the true C. mimeticus, Noe, and not the recently 

 distinguished C. mimulus, Edw., proving that both these species occur within the 

 Oriental region. 



