Genus Anopheles. 181 
Observations. —This is a small, rather dark species, clearly 
related to A. Rhode iensis and A. superpictus, but it can readily 
be told by the position of the cross-veins ( vide Fig. 52); the fringe 
is also spotted, and thus can at once be told from A. Rhodesiensis. 
From costalis the absence of spotted femora will serve as a 
ready distinction. 
Colonel Giles, who describes this species from Sierra Leone, 
says the tarsi are not banded ; but, even in those that look 
unhanded to the naked eye, traces of banding may be found on 
the apices of the tarsi, whilst the Mashonaland specimens show 
the apical banding much more distinctly. 
Dr. Daniels says (Mai. Rep. R. S. E., 2nd Se. p. 34) that 
A. funestus is the most numerous, the most widely distributed 
and the most persistent frequenter of houses. In one district, 
and that the most malarious, it is the only Anopheles found, and 
is more numerous than any of the Culices there present. 44 I have 
found this Anopheles ,” he says, 44 at points in the whole course 
of my journeys, extending to over some 1500 miles. Near the 
equator, rather more than 1° S., it was found in fair numbers in 
the cool season 5600 feet above the sea. Further south, 15°, it 
was found, but in very small numbers, at an elevation of 5000 feet, 
but is common there at 3000 feet. I have found it in numbers 
at sea level, from 1° to 18° S. . . . It thrives under climatic 
conditions where European vegetables are grown, as well as 
where the vegetation and products are purely tropical. 1 ’ The 
actual coast line is comparatively free from this Anopheles, as 
the river water there is brackish for a great part of the year. 
There is no doubt that this Anopheles has a great deal to do 
with the transmission of malarial fever in Africa, and it seems 
to be far the most abundant species. Concerning this species, 
Dr. Daniels sends the following account :—- 
44 The 4 small dark ’ Anopheles in which ‘ Crescents ’ develop ” 
(A. funestus, Giles). 
44 There is no entomologist here, and consequently the minute 
description of this mosquito will have to be made from dry 
specimens. When dry the mosquito appears so much shrivelled 
and distorted that some non-entomological observations of the 
fresh mosquito may be of interest. 
44 The name 4 small dark ’ or 4 little black ’ by which it is 
commonly called has probably been given to it on account of its 
being most commonly observed after feeding, and the distended 
abdomen, which then appears black, is the most conspicuous part 
