part 2] mosquitoes in the British museum. 153 



South Wales). Upper Tertiary. Though this form was described 

 :as a Coleopterous larva, it has been suggested by A. Handlirsch 1 

 that it is more probably Dipterous, and perhaps a Culicid. I do 

 not consider that this view has much justification, although the 

 figures seem to suggest a slight possibility that it may be a Tipulid 

 larva of the tribe Pediciini. 



Quaternary Species. 

 The following mosquitoes have been recorded from copal : — 



Gulex clliaris (Linn.) Bloch. 3 Locality not stated. 



Gulex flavus Gristl. 3 Brazil. ' C. totus flavus, thorace lineis 

 •duabus lateralibus, antennis pedibusque atris ; alis immaculatis. 

 Minor G pipiente Fabr. cui proxime affinis.' 



Gulex loewii Griebel. 4 Locality not stated. Described as from 

 amber, but Klebs 5 saj^s that it was actually in gum-copal. The 

 specimen is described as black, with a silvery A in front of the 

 mesonotum, the second segment of the tarsi yellowish. Neither 

 this nor C. flavus Gistl can be positively identified with recent 

 species from the short descriptions given. 



In conclusion, it may be remarked that the most interesting 

 result of the study of the fossil Culicidse so far discovered is the 

 knowledge gained that probably all the main divisions of the 

 family existed in mid-Tertiary times much as they do to-day, and 

 with almost identical characters. Not only are the subfamilies 

 DixinaB, Chaoborinse, and Culicinas represented and defined as 

 sharply as they are now, but there was then also a clear division of 

 the Chaoborinae into Gkaoborus and Moclilonyx, and the main 

 lines of evolution of the Culicinae were also well indicated. 

 Although no fossil Anopheles has yet been found, there can be no 

 doubt from its morphology that this is also an old genus, most 

 probably older than any Culicine form ; its non-occurrence in the 

 fossil state can be accounted for by supposing that it has always 

 been, as it is now, less abundant than the Culicinae. The origin 

 and phylogenetic history of the Culicidse must go back well into 

 the Mesozoic Era ; and, from the small size and fragile nature of 

 the insects, it is probably too much to hope that we can ever 

 obtain much direct palseontological evidence on these matters. 



1 ' Die Fossilen Insekten ' 1906-1908, p. 972. 



2 Beschiift. Gesellsch. Naturforsch. Freunde Berlin, vol. ii (1776) p. 164. 



3 ' Isis ' 1831, p. 247. 



4 Zeitschr. Gesellsch. Naturw. vol. xx (1862) p. 317. 



5 Schrift. Phys.-CEkon. Gesellsch. Konigsberg, vol. Ii (1910) p. 220. 



