OFjANOPHELlNE MOSQUITOS IN MALAYA. 137 



mosquito has no ventral scale-tuft, which is one of the marked characteristics of 

 members of this genus, including sinensis." Certainly sinensis {sensu restricto) 

 has also a brown mesonotum, white apical palpal segment, and predominant 

 yellow wing-scaling, so the only point of difference apparently remaining is the 

 ventral scale-tuft. Now, concerning this, it is true that forms without any ventral 

 scale-tuft are very common, but forms with every intermediate type of structure 

 between them and sinensis exist, and I therefore think that sepuratus is not a 

 distinct species from sinensis. If it is, I do not know where the line can be 

 drawn in practice. Leicester himself said that it might be a variety of sinensis ; 

 but I do not think that a collection of forms connected with a species by a whole 

 series of intermediate types should be even called a variety of the species, which 

 implies a distinct group. The scaling of the last segment of the abdomen is not 

 important specifically. I have seen undoubted sinensis (sensu restricto) with, or 

 without, scales on the dorsum also of the last segment, and also specimens bred 

 out from the same pond and killed immediately, one with a heavy ventral tuft, 

 one with only a few scales in the tuft, and one with no tuft at all. There could 

 be no question of the tuft having been rubbed off, for the specimens were in a 

 perfect condition otherwise," and these forms with only a few scales in the ventral 

 tuft are common enough. 



In fact, it only needs a month or two's work with so-called sinensis, annularis, 

 vanus, paeditaeniatus, separatus, and minutus, to prove that it is impossible to 

 separate them up into morphological groups. I therefore recognise only the 

 following as valid species! : — barbirostris, sinensis, umbrosus, asiatica, and 

 albotaeniatus. 



The Generic Grouping. 



With regard to the generic grouping of the five species which we have 

 considered valid, it must be remarked that Leicester (1908) named asiatica a 

 Lophoscelomyia, and referred the other four species, sinensis, barbirostris, umbra- 

 sus, and albotaeniatus, to Myzorhynchus. However James and Stanton (1911) 

 placed umbrosus in the genus Patagiamyia, this genus having been created by 

 James and Liston for species such as umbrosus and albotaeniatus which have 

 patagial tufts, but have no ventral tuft on the eighth abdominal segment. It 

 may certainly be possible that a distinct group exists in India of these mosquitos, 

 but in Malaya these are united to the forms known to James and Liston as 

 Myzorhynchus (which have a ventral abdominal tuft) by a whole series of 

 annectant forms. For example: — 



(1) sinensis is represented here by specimens which have or have not the 



ventral abdominal tuft ; 



(2) barbirostris has likewise occasionally forms with or without an abdomi- 



nal tuft ; 



* I have had a barbirostris with no ventral tuft on the eighth segment, but with small tufts 

 on the other segments. 



f A new species, which I have not seen, has just been described in the Journal of the London 

 School of Tropical Medicine. 



