8 
lected ivitli too great care. As important specific characters 
are furnished by the icings and legs, it is of the utmost 
consequence that these should not be denuded of their 
scales, or otherwise injured ; unless attention is paid to this 
point the spiecimens tvill prohaMy he quite ivorthless for 
determination. 
Spirit Not to be Used. 
Specimens for determination must on no account be placed 
in spirit. 
Specimens to be Pinned Immediately they are 
Dead. 
Mosquitoes should in all cases be pinned, and that as soon 
as possible after death ; duplicate specimens for dissection 
can, of course, be pi’eserved in spirit, but if this is done care 
must betaken, by the use of corresponding labels or numbers, 
to prevent confusion between species. 
Number of Specimens of Each Species Required. 
In collecting specimens of a sj)ecies of mosqxiito for deter- 
mination some half dozen examjDles of each se,v should, if 
possible, alwaj'S be obtained. 
How to Disting'uish the Sexes. 
The usually harmless male mosquitoes can be distinguished 
from the females (which, in the majority of species, alone 
bite and suck blood) by the possession of plumose antennae, 
forming tufts in front of the head ; in the females the 
antennae, tliough long, are nearly bare (having whorls of 
only short hair at the bases of the joints); while the palpi 
in the case of females of the typical genus Cule.r, to 
which the majority of the described species belong, are quite 
short. In tlie genus Anojdieles the palpi are as long as the 
proboscis in both sexes, but are more swollen at the tips in 
the males. 
