48 
A Monograph of Culiciclae. 
Culex. Dr. Lutz writes me that the larvae of C. Bigotii, Bellardi, 
live amongst the larvae of Heteronycha and feed upon them. 
The larvae of this fine gnat were obtained by him in a hollow 
tree filled with water, and again in the town of Sao Paulo. They 
greatly resemble, he says, the larvae of Psorophora ciliata. 
PsOFOphOFa larvae. —The latter larvae are also carnivorous, 
and prey very fiercely on other larvae of Culiciclae, seizing them 
by the neck and devouring them. Even larvae of the same size 
will devour each other. (Dr. Lutz.) 
Aedes larvae. —Of the characteristic habits of Aedes we 
know nothing. Dr. Lutz has taken the larvae of two of the 
allied genera, namely. Aedeomyia and Uranotaenia. Of the 
latter he says the larvae lie obliquely in the water, something 
between the position of Anopheles and Culex. 
Coretlira larvae. — Corethra has been studied to a great 
extent, so that we know more details of its life-history and 
habits than any other, with the exception of Culex. These so- 
called “ phantom larvae ” lie quite horizontally in the water, and 
remain perfectly motionless for some time. Suddenly the larva dis¬ 
appears, and we find it an inch or so further on. The movement 
is so rapid, the larva so transparent, that we cannot see it alter 
its position, which is done by a sudden lashing action of the 
body, described by Miail * as “ resembling the jerk of an electric 
needle.” They may lose their transparency, however, and then 
can be more readily seen. Like Psorophora, they are extremely 
ravenous, and feed off small Crustacea and ephemera-larvae 
(Miail), off Pixa larvae, and even young fish and molluscous 
embryos; “nor do they even shrink from cannibalism,” says 
Colonel Giles,']' “ smaller specimens of their own species being 
devoured with gusto if they come within reach of their jaws.” 
Regarding feeding off Pixa and other dipterous larvae, Meinert 
states that in one case the Pixa larva filled up all the front part 
of the intestinal canal, and hung with its tail end half out of the 
mouth. Slabber (quoted by Meinert) gives an account of how 
these larvae devoured the weak spawn (spat?) of his gold fish, 
and instead of serving as nutriment to his “ armed polyps,” 
to his great annoyance swallowed them, and did not even 
* “Nat. Hist. Aqunt. Ins.,” p. Ill, 1895. 
f “Hd.Bk. of Gnats or Mosquitoes,” p. 87, 1900. 
