[ 16 ] 
with pearly iridescence either become dull white or yellowish or sufficient 
transparent to allow the colour of the background to shew through and lenc 
its tint to the scales. 
Where possible the descriptions are those of mosquitoes bred fron 
larvae so as to have them in as perfect condition as possible. 
It is a mistake to mount such mosquitoes as soon as they are hatched 
as the cuticle is so soft that great distortion occurs. If these mosquitoes 
are kept alive in the dark in a glass tube they make no efforts to escape and 
no denudation occurs. The tube should be corked. If cotton wool be used 
the mosquito often becomes entangled in it and partially denuded. 
I have endeavoured to follow a uniform plan in my descriptions and tc 
use descriptive terms always in the same sense both as regards shape, 
colour, and other appearances, and have conformed with some exceptions 
to the terminology adopted by Theobald. 
In my descriptions I commence with an epitome of the more salient 
points of each mosquito. A detailed description of the head and its append- 1 
ages follows. The thorax and its appendages is then described in order, 
beginning with the prothoracic lobes the obvious representative of the 
prothorax. The portion of the mesothorax which lies above the prothorax 
lobes I refer to as the “shoulder.” It is an important region and is often 
clad with scales of a different shape and sometimes of a different colour to 
those on the rest of the mesonotum as in the Anophelina where there is a 
tuft of erect clavate or lanceolate scales in this region. There is no trans- 
veise suture in any of the culicidse, but a marked difference of scaling is 
often seen on the portion anterior to where such a suture exists in other 
diptera, and. in that on the part posterior to it. This different scaling 
seems to indicate this suture and for descriptive purposes it is convenient 
to speak of anterior and posterior in relation to the mesonotum and by such 
words to define the two portions separated by this imaginary suture so 
indicated which crosses the mesonotum a short distance in front of the 
wings. I his division of scaling is well seen in Culex gelidus and Stegomyia 
The rest of the mesothorax with its appendages, wings and legs is next 
described. For convenience the legs are all described together instead of 
with the special part of the thorax to which they belong. Descriptions of ! 
the metanotum, abdomen and genitalia follow m the order named. 
. ^ the descriptions the colour of the chitinous cuticle is given when it 
is not completely hidden by the scales. 
-i his colouration varies to some extent with age, and still more in the 
more transparent mosquitoes with the colour of the contents, food, etc., of 
the thorax and abdomen. 
in describing the scales, especially on the head, I have preferred to 
describe the shape of the scales rather than adopt the vaguer terms of “ flat 
scales ” and “ narrow curved scales ” used by Theobald, as in some of the 
genera the shape of the scales especially of the “ flat scales ” or their repre¬ 
sentatives appears to be characteristic and deviates from the definition of 
the terms. 
The description of colours is a matter of great difficulty and involves a 
personal element. . The colours vary with the amount of light, the angle at 
which the light strikes and the degree of magnification. A truer idea of the 
colouring of a mosquito is often obtained by examination with a hand lens 
than with a higher degree of magnification. I have tried to use the terms 
