634 MOSQUITOES OF NORTH AMERICA 



be entirely pale grey; in typical specimens the black is divided by a median 

 stripe of pale scales. Coqnillett separated the present species (under the name 

 lativittatus) from curriei on the broader median thoracic stripe. This char- 

 acter is equally variable in both forms and the stripe varies from very broad to 

 very narrow in different specimens of each. The scales of the occiput are 

 usually nearly pure •white, but in some of the specimens from the Pacific coast 

 they are distinctly ochraceous. 



There is no reliable imaginal character by which this species can be separated 

 from Aedes curriei and the European A'edes dorsalis (Meigen) . The separation 

 of onondagensis and curriei rests upon slight larval characters. The larvae of 

 onondagensis have both pairs of dorsal head-hairs single, the skin of the abdo- 

 men covered in part with transverse rows of minute chitinous spicules, the comb- 

 scales of the eighth abdominal segment broadly rounded and with a imiform 

 fringe of long spinules, and the anal gills very short, bud-like ; in curriei the 

 dorsal head-hairs are multiple, the skin of the abdomen is smooth, the comb- 

 scales are smaller, with a short fringe and distinct central spine, and the anal 

 gills are normal. Onondagensis breeds in salt water along the sea-coasts or 

 inland, presumably where there is salt water ; curriei breeds in temporary pools 

 of snow-water or rain-water on our prairies, sometimes with a considerable 

 content of alkali. 



Two races of Aedes onondagensis are indicated by differences in the male 

 genitalia and these races are separated distributionally by a wide stretch of ter- 

 ritory. In the form from the Pacific coast the stems of the harpagones are much 

 thicker than in the specimens from New York State ; the Pacific coast race takes 

 the name quaylei Dyar and Knab. In the New York specimens (race ononda- 

 gensis) the genitalia agree in every respect with those of curriei. We have seen 

 no males or larva from the Atlantic coast and associate the females we have 

 from there with onondagensis merely on probability; the same applies to two 

 females from the mouth of the Mississippi River. 



Aedes dorsalis of Europe agrees closely in the coloration of the imago with 

 our onondagensis and curriei. We have a male and female through the kindness 

 of the late Professor Meinert of Copenhagen. On the wings of the female the 

 dark scales are much more numerous and evenly distributed than in our two 

 species, but as the coloration of the wing-scales is exceedingly variable in our 

 American forms we doubt that this difference is constant. We have mounted the 

 genitalia of the male dorsalis from Denmark and find them indistinguishable 

 from curriei and typical onondagensis. It is probable that either curriei or 

 onondagensis is identical with dorsalis, but as the forms are differentiated on 

 larval characters this question can only be decided by a knowledge of the Euro- 

 pean larvae. Moreover, there is every probability that in Europe two species 

 have been included under the name dorsalis, one of them maritime, the other 

 occurring inland. Culex dorsalis was founded by Meigen on a female taken in 

 the vicinity of Berlin and therefore with certainty bred from fresh water ; sub- 

 sequent records indicate a species breeding in salt water. This makes it highly 

 probable that in Europe, under the name dorsalis, there are two forms which 

 may or may not be identical with curriei and onondagensis. Under the circum- 

 stances we can only call attention to the probabilities and express the hope that 

 further facts will be forthcoming to show the true status of all the forms 

 involved. 



AEDES CURRIEI (Coquillett) Dyar. 



Oulex curriei Coquillett, Can. Bnt., xxxlU, 259, 1901. 

 Grahhamia curriei Theobald (In part), Mon. Culic, ill, 249, 1903. 

 Orabhamia curriei Theobald, Can. Bnt., xxxv, 312, 1903. 

 Oulex curriei Dyar, Proc. Bnt. See. Wash., vl, 40, 1904. 

 OuUcada curriei Felt, Bull. 97, N. Y. State Mus., 477, 1905. 



