44 MISC. PUBLICATION 336, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 
CULEX ERRATICUS D. and K. 
(Syn., C. egberti D. and K., C. peribleptus D. and K., C. pose D. and K., C. degustator 
Dyar, C. leprincei D. and K., C. homoeopas D. and L., ete.; also C. abominator D. and 
K., in part, and in the United States references to C. inhibitator Dyar (not D. and K.) 
and Melanoconion atratus Dyar (not Theob.) ) 
The name erraticus is adopted by the writers as the correct name 
for the common Melanoconion of the Southern States. This species 
has in recent years been known as inhibitator because of the 
synonymy published by Dyar (5/), but a review of the original de- 
scriptions has shown that the larval and male characters of the 
United States form are distinct from those of the Santo Dominican 
species (98). The description and illustration of the male genitalia 
given by Dyar (51) for erraticus belong to abominator D. and K., a 
species that is known only from Texas. 
The larvae of Culea erraticus are found in grassy permanent pools 
and swampy places, especially those having a growth of duckweed 
(Lemna). The egg raft is sometimes laid on the upper surface of 
the Lemna frond, although it is not known whether this is the usual 
habit. The larvae are taken frequently in association with Anopheles 
larvae. The species occurs throughout the South. 
The United States species of the subgenus Melanoconion cannot at 
present be distinguished with certainty in the adult stage except by 
characters of the male terminalia. Since erraticus is the commonest 
one of the group, biting records for Melanoconion females are usually 
assumed to apply to this species. Female specimens having a limited 
area of flat scales and a large triangular patch of narrow scales on 
the occiput can be identified with some assurance as erraticus. 
Melanoconion adults have been obtained in large numbers in light- 
trap collections in Florida, and examinations of male specimens have 
shown both erraticus and pilosus, principally the latter, to be pres- 
ent. Females, probably all erraticus, have been taken in Florida and 
Louisiana while biting out of doors at night, but usually in small 
numbers when compared with the abundance of the larvae. The 
writers’ observations at Mound indicated that the species had a pref- 
erence for the blood of fowls, attacking them on the roosts at night. 
According to Thibault (142), Culea abominator (probably erraticus 
as now known) was the most abundant and annoying species in the 
woods in the vicinity of Scott, Ark., especially at dusk and early in 
the morning, but continuing to bite throughout the day. Horsfall 
(79, SO) did not find them of importance in southeastern Arkansas in 
1935 or 1936, although he reported them as occurring in enormous 
numbers in rice fields in association with Psorophora species in 1986. 
CULEX PECCATOR D. and K. 
(Syn., C. incriminator D. and K.) 
Larvae and males of this species are distinguished readily from 
those of Culex erraticus and C. pilosus, although the male genitalia 
are very similar to those of abominator (Texas) and anips Dyar 
(California). Nothing is known of the blood-feeding habits of the 
female. The larvae, when found, are almost always associated with 
C’, apicalis. 
