Mosquito Larvae of New Guinea — BiCK 
'Punctulatus is widespread throughout New 
Guinea but collections from the interior are 
still too meager to prove the interesting hypo- 
thesis of Taylor (1934) that punctulatus sup- 
plants farauti in inland localities. This hypo- 
thesis is discussed by Lee and Woodhill 
(1944) and Horsfall and Porter (1947). 
Functulatus was recorded almost entirely 
(99 per cent) from surface water; the only 
other habitat utilized was artificial containers. 
It was collected from a variety of surface 
habitats but my evidence is overwhelming 
that only puddles are important. Puddles were 
the important habitat of both farauti and 
punctulatus^ but punctulatus showed a con- 
siderably greater affinity for this habitat 
{punctulatus in puddles, 83 per cent; farauti 
in puddles, 52 per cent). Furthermore, 32 per 
cent of the punctulatus collections were taken 
from muddy water, in contrast to 17 per cent 
for farauti. Lee and Woodhill (1944), Belkin 
et al. (1945), and Horsfall and Porter (1947) 
have all emphasized small, temporary surface- 
water collections as the principal habitat. 
In the, Solomons, Belkin et al. (1945) re- 
corded a contrast in wet- and dry-season 
habitats. They state that, during the dry 
reason, punctulatus almost disappears and is 
found mainly in streams, whereas, during the 
wet season, it is found in an endless variety 
of surface waters. No such contrast was ap- 
parent from my observations, nor has such 
been recorded by others for New Guinea. 
Swellengrebel and Rodenwaldt (1932), by 
listing a great variety of artificial containers, 
have given undue stress to the utilization of 
this habitat. Neither Lee and Woodhill (1944) 
nor Belkin et al. (1945) recorded punctulatus 
from artificial containers, and Horsfall and 
Porter (1947) reported that tin cans were rare 
habitats. 
Lee and Woodhill (1944) and Belkin et al. 
(1945) emphasized that punctulatus is found 
primarily in sunlight. My figure, 84 per cent 
for exposed situations, is in striking agree- 
ment. 
'Punctulatus was recorded approximately to 
401 
the same degree both with and without vege- 
tation, and this is in general agreement with 
Lee and Woodhill (1944) and Belkin et al. 
(1945). However, Horsfall and Porter (1947) 
state that punctulatus habitats are essentially 
those free of floatage. 
Nothing relative to pH has been recorded. 
My data, from 27 readings, give a range of 
5 to 7 and a mode of 7, which is significantly 
higher than the mode of 5 recorded for 
farauti. 
Lee and Woodhill (1944) state that punctu- 
latus has not been found in brackish water, 
and none of my 151 collections was from 
such habitats. However, Horsfall and Porter 
(1947) did record it rarely from brackish 
water. 
The salt tolerance of punctulatus under 
laboratory conditions apparently has not 
been reported. My laboratory studies showed 
that the percentage of fourth instar larvae 
surviving for 24 hours was greatly reduced 
only at salinities greater than 50 per cent sea 
water. Percentage emergence of fourth instar 
larvae in 10 per cent sea water was identical 
with that in distilled water, but was signifi- 
cantly reduced at all higher salinities. How- 
ever, fourth instar larvae emerged to a 
limited degree at all salinities including 100 
per cent sea water. This is particularly interest- 
ing because of the absence of brackish water 
collections. 
SALINITY 
Number of Percentage 
Percentage larvae used alive after Percentage 
sea water {4th instar) 24 hours emerging 
0 108 97 33 
10 60 83 33 
20 58 60 2 
30 82 74 8 
40 97 57 6 
50 87 44 4 
60 52 19 11 
70 65 5 2 
80 64 11 10 
90 67 4 2 
100 121 4 3 
Nothing has been recorded relative to 
larval associates. Punctulatus found mostly 
