48 F. W. EDWARDS — FURTHER NOTES ON AFRICAN CULICIDAE. 



to the naked eye. The wings have the apical two-fifths of the costa with whitish- 

 yellow scales, and similarly coloured scales are also present on the second and 

 fourth veins, extending over almost the whole of the upper fork and the base of 

 the lower. 



This variety approaches Theobald's var. albothorax, which has a whitish 

 mesonotum, only a little darker in the middle, but has the wings as in the typical 

 form. The var. pallida, Theo., also resembles var. alhicosta in some respects, but 

 it has the entire costa and the middle of the mesonotum dark. If it were not for 

 these two varieties which somewhat resemble it, I should not have hesitated 

 to class this new form as a distinct species, and such it may eventually prove 

 to be. 



British East Africa : 1 Q (type), near Wangi, coast of Mainland, 21-22 

 ii. 1912 (S. A. Neave) ; 2 Q, Juba River, ix.-x. 1911 (Dr. C. L. ChevaMier) ; 

 1 Q, Mombasa Island (Dr. W. J. Radford). 



All these specimens have been presented to the British Museum by the 

 Imperial Bureau of Entomology. 



Ochlerotatus (Finlaya) furcifer, nom. n. 



Mansonia nigra, Theo., Second Rept. Welle. Lab., p. 80 (1906). 

 Diceromyia africana, Theo., Fourth Rept. Welle. Lab., p. 151 (1911). 



Three female specimens of this curious and interesting species have been 

 taken at Weshiang, Gold Coast, on the River Dainsu, 10 miles north-west, of 

 Accra, by Dr. H, F. Hamilton. They agree with Theobald's excellent descrip- 

 tion of D. africana, except that the palpi have two indistinct white rings ; one of 

 the specimens has very narrow irregular white bands on the abdomen which touch 

 the bases of the segments in the middle. The agreement with M. nigra, also, is 

 nearly but not quite perfect, as there are no apical white bands on the abdominal 

 segments, and the fore and mid claws are toothed. Apart from the last point, 

 these are unimportant differences, and do not in my opinion indicate that two 

 distinct species have been described. As all the legs of the type of M. nigra 

 are lost, Theobald's statement that the claws are simple cannot be confirmed or 

 corrected. 



As the group Finlaya, to which these species belongs, has been included by the 

 writer under Ochlerotatus, the specific name has to be changed, as Giles' Taenio- 

 rhynchus niger (1904) is an Ochlerotatus, and the name africanus has been used by 

 Theobald for other species which are now included in Ochlerotatus. The Finlaya 

 group is distinguishable by the very broad wing-scales, the short terminal joint of 

 the male palpi and the rather large and non-retractile eighth segment of the 

 female abdomen. It is quite possible that Finlaya will eventually be recognised 

 as a good genus, in which case the name nigra will have to be reinstated. For 

 the present, however, the toothed claws and tapering abdomen of the female seem 

 to be sufficient justification for the inclusion of this group in Ochlerotatus ; the 

 eighth abdominal segment is in a similar condition in Stegomyia. 



The name furcifer is suggested by the forked male claspers, which have been 

 figured by Theobald. The writer's reference of this species to Mansonioides, 

 without the examination of specimens, was an error. The group seems to be 

 intermediate between Ochlerotatus and Mansonia, 



