360 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



food attacking each other, and were it not for its local habits, 

 this species might prove a valuable aid in reducing the num- 

 bers of those species of mosquitos annoying to man and the lower 

 animals. This insect is evidently ^\'idely distributed, as larvae 

 were met with in 1903 in the Kootenay district. British Columbia, 

 by Dr Dyar, where they occurred in cold pools at Glacier and also 

 in rain water barrels. 



SAYOMYIA 



Phantom larvae 



The small gnats belonging to this genus have a close resem- 

 blance to the biting, annoying culicids. We are happy to state 

 that they are harmless, their short mouth parts being specially 

 adapted to feeding on vegetation. The larvae are the most inter- 

 esting of all and may at once be separated from those belonging 

 to the genus Culex by the absence of the characteristic air tube. 

 The fore part of the head is much prolonged, and the stout, basal, 

 antennal segment is terminated by four usually equal, pendant 

 filaments and another about half the normal length. These larvae 

 are also remarkable for the eversible pharyngeal tube terminating 

 in a circular papillate organ, evidently for the absorption of food. 

 The almost perfect transparency of the larvae renders them ex- 

 ceedingly difficult to detect, the black eyes and pigment in the air 

 reservoirs of the thoracic and abdominal segments being about the 

 only color. They remain almost motionless some distance below 

 the surface and then with a sudden jerk change from one place to 

 another with a motion so rapid that ordinarily it escapes the 

 eye. The larvae never come to the surface and are predaceous, 

 being credited with feeding not only on small crustaceans but also 

 small dipterous larvae and even young fish. They are said to occur 

 in air kinds of water, specially that which is clear, and, unlike 

 Culex, may be met with where fish abound. The pupae are nearly 

 straight and remain almost upright some little distance below the 

 surface. They are at first white, gradually changing to yellowish 

 brown or green and the segments may even become margined with 

 black. 



