62 



The female feeds upon blood, and is frequently 

 seen with the stomach distended with blood, more 

 or less digested. 



The female is also seen with the abdomen 

 more or less swollen, with the greatly enlarged 

 ovaries, which give a whitish and opaque colour 

 to the mosquito, and often make the insect much 

 more conspicuous in its flight than it otherwise 

 would be. 



The commonest species of mosquitoes belong 

 largely to the following genera or closely related 

 forms : — 



1. Anophelina (sub-family). 



2. Culex. 



3. Stegomyia. 



4. Taeniovhynchus and Mansonia. 



5. Uranotaenia. 



The sub-family, Anophelina, is in many ways 

 the most distinct of these groups. Not only are 

 the adult insects highly characteristic in appear- 

 ance, but the ovum and larva are quite unlike 

 those of any other genus. One, indeed, can 

 recognize tlie Anophelinae at a glance merely by 

 their characteristic general appearance, once the 

 peculiarities of this genus are known. 



The points which serve to distinguish the 

 Anophelinae from other groups of mosquitoes are: — 



I. The character upon which the sub-family 

 is founded, viz., the relative length of the palps 

 and proboscis. In both the sub-families, Culicina 

 and Anophelina, the palps in the male are long ' 

 plumose structures, as long or longer than the 

 proboscis. In the female of the Culicinae, however, 

 the palps are quite short and insignificant structures, 

 whereas in the female Anophelinae these are scaled 



