806 MOSQUITOES OF NORTH AMERICA 



AEDES TORTILIS (Theobald). 



Culex tortilis Theobald, Entomologist, xxxvi, 281, 1903. 



Oulex tortilis Theobald & Grrabham, Mosq. or Culic. of Jamaica, 26, 1905. 



Aedes auratus Grabham, Can. Ent., xxxviii, 313, 1906. 



Aedes auratus Dyar & Knab, Proc. Biol. See. Wash., xix, 163, 1906. 



Culex tortilis Theobald, Mon. Culic, iv, 428, 1907. 



Culex tortilis Theobald, Mon. Culic, v, 387, 1910. 



Aedes auratus Theobald, Mon. Culic, v, 598, 1910. 



Obiginal Descbiption op Culex tobtilis: 



Head golden scaled; proboscis unhanded; thorax adorned with golden scales, and 

 a large dark brown patch on each side in front, the back of the mesonotum also 

 darkened; pleurae with grey scales. Abdomen deep brown with violet reflections; 

 the second, third, fourth and fifth segments with narrow basal pale bands; venter 

 pale yellow scaled. Legs deep brown, unhanded; venter of femora and coxae white. 

 Ungues equal. 



2. Head brown, clothed with narrow-curved golden-yellow scales, a few black 

 bristles, and ochraceous upright forked scales; proboscis and palpi deep brown; 

 antennae brown; basal joint testaceous; second joint very large and swollen, deep 

 brown. Thorax deep brown, the middle of the mesonotum clothed with narrow- 

 curved golden scales; on each side in front a roundish rich deep brown patch, and 

 the posterior part of the mesonotum with darker scales than the front, being almost 

 brown, but not so dark as the front lateral areas; scutellum with dull golden-brown 

 scales and brown border-bristles; metanotum bright chestnut-brown; pleurse pale 

 brown, with spots of grey scales. Abdomen black in some lights, rich deep but dull 

 violet in others; the first segment with dusky scales, forming two spots and pale 

 golden hairs; the second, third, fourth and fifth segments with narrow pale yel- 

 lowish basal bands, not extending quite across the segments, the fifth sometimes 

 very inconspicuous; basal lateral white spots most prominent on the apical seg- 

 ments ; venter clothed with creamy yellow scales ; border-bristles of the dorsum pale 

 golden. L«gs deep brown, except the coxae and venter of the femora, which are 

 grey to creamy yellow; femora, tibiae, and hind metatarsi with black bristles; hind 

 metatarsi very nearly as long as the hind tibiae; fore and mid ungues equal, 

 uniserrated; hind equal aud simple. Wings clothed with typical brown Culex 

 scales; fork-cells rather short; first submarginal cell very slightly longer, but 

 narrower than the second posterior cell, its stem about as long as the cell, its base 

 about level with the base of the second posterior cell, if anything slightly nearer 

 the apex; stem of the second posterior cell not quite as long as the cell; posterior 

 cross-vein very short, about twice its own length distant from the mid; a pale spot 

 at the base of the wing; halteres testaceous. Length 4 to 4.5 mm. 



Hal>. Kingston, Jamaica. 



Time of capture. August. 



Observations. — Described from a series of females taken by Dr. Grabham. They 

 are very distinct, small, thick-set mosquitoes, easily told by the thoracic adorn- 

 ment, the two dark spots on the front of the mesothorax being very characteristic; 

 their unhanded legs at once separate them from Culex secutor, Theob., or C. janitor, 

 Theob., and they are of much stouter build. When alive they can easily be identified 

 by the character noticed by Dr. Grabham, of carrying their hind legs twisted right 

 forward over their head, when settled, after the manner of Wyeomyias. There is 

 some variation in the venation. Some specimens show the base of the first sub- 

 marginal cell slightly nearest the apex, and the posterior cross-vein as long as the 

 mid cross-vein, and about its own length distant from it. In others the basal 

 abdominal banding is very faint; in one there is a trace of an additional basal 

 abdominal band. 



Original Descbiption of Aedes auratiis: 



2. Head covered with narrow curved yellow scales and hairs. Many forked upright 

 yellow scales at the back; a few forked upright black scales and black hairs at the 

 sides. Antennae dark brown, joints with pale yellow hairs. Palpi black, speckled 

 with yellow scales. Proboscis black, with scattered yellow scales and hairs, espe- 

 cially near the base. Clypeus black. Thorax rich golden yellow. Prothoracic lobes 

 with black hairs and yellow scales. Mesothorax densely covered with narrow curved 

 golden-yellow scales in front, somewhat more scantily at the back (scales of thorax 

 darker In shade than those on the head) ; on each side in front, near the middle 

 line, there are two small dark spots; there is also a large dark area on each side 

 reaching from the prothoracic lobes to above the wing insertions, and extending 

 laterally to the margin, and a pair of conspicuous black spots near the middle line 



