5g MISC. PUBLICATION 336, U. S. DEPT. OP AGRICULTURE 



ings to bite, an observation that the writers have not been able to 

 confirm. The species has been collected by the writers at Buras and 

 Mound, La., Bay Saint Louis, Miss., and various localities in Florida. 

 It has been reported in Alabama (111) and Louisiana (118), and all 

 other Southern States except Tennessee. Dyar (40; 1^1, p. 397) gives 

 the range of the species as the Southern States and the Eastern States 

 from Texas to Massachusetts. 



ORTHOPODOMYIA ALBA Baker 



Orthopodomyia alba was described in 1936 from specimens col- 

 lected in tree holes near Ithaca, N. Y., where they were found asso- 

 ciated with the larvae of 0. signifera. Adults of the two species were 

 said to be very similar in appearance, but the larvae differed con- 

 siderably, particularly in the absence of sclerotic plates on the 

 abdomen in O. alba and in other characters as shown in the key. The 

 species was first recorded for the South by Shields and Miles (111), 

 who obtained it from a tree hole in Colbert County, Ala., and the 

 writers have examined a few larvae and reared adults from this 

 series. With a few minor exceptions, the larval characters agree 

 with those given in Baker's description. 



Genus DEINOCERITES Theobald 



The mosquitoes of this genus breed exclusively in holes made by 

 certain species of crabs, and the adults rest in the upper part of the 

 crab holes. It is said that they will bite humans on occasion, but 

 they are rarely encountered and are of no economic importance. 

 Only one species occurs in Florida. The antennae are extremely 

 long, and the sides of the thorax have a shingled appearance. The 

 palpi are short, and the antennae are similar in both sexes. 



DEINOCERITES CANCER Theob. 



(Crab-hole mosquito) 



The crab-hole mosquito breeds in holes made by land crabs in the 

 marl soil of the coastal marshes of southern Florida. The larvae of 

 Aedes taeniorhynchus and occasionally Psorophora columbiae have 

 been found associated with those of Deinocerites cancer when the sur- 

 face water left on the marshes by rain or high tides had drained 

 away. The adults are seldom seen, but have been taken in light 

 traps at Miami and in several other localities as far north as New 

 Smyrna (latitude about 29°). 



Genus WYEOMYIA Theobald 



The species of this genus breed in water that collects in such plants 

 as the bromeliads (air plants). The eggs are laid singly on the leaf 

 surfaces and hatch when flooded by rain water that collects at the 

 leaf bases. The adults are small and are rarely seen except in forests 

 and shady places, where their host plants occur. The females of some 

 of these species bite readily, but their attacks are usually rare and 

 they are troublesome only where the host plants are abundant. Three 

 species occur in the United States, two of which are limited to south- 

 ern Florida. All these species have some white markings on the 

 tarsi, although they are usually faint in dead specimens and are easily 



