The mosquitoes of the island of Corfu Greece.

THE MOSQUITOS OF THE ISLAND OF CORFU, GREECE.
By Dr. THEODORE
STEPHANIDES.
The following mosquitos have been observed by myself in the Island of Corfu
in tile course of a five year study durin, u which more than 350 bodies of water, ranging
from pools to small lakes, were examined.
1, Anopheles maculipennis, Meigen.
The larvae are found in the low-lying districts of the Island in shallow pools and
irrigation ditches containing a medium amount of aquatic vegetation yet well
c,IjOsed to sunlight. They are sometimes present along the edges and in the back-
,v;lters of drainage canals with an appreciable current, and frequently in slightly
i,rnckish (up to 10 per cent. salinity) waters by the sea-shore. They are most plentiful
irl Lake Antiniotissa among the floating masses of Monostromn (? b~dlostcm, .Roth-
\\‘ittr.) at the mouths of several fresh-water springs which flow into that shallow and
sliglltly brackish mere from the south.
The adult bites most frequently after sunset and is the principal transmitter of
t\lc malarial parasite in the Island.
2. Anopheles bifurcatus, Linnaeus.
This is the commonest Corfu A~zo~heZes. The larvae are present throughout the
~‘car, often in considerable numbers, in cool, shady ditches, springs and rills with a
slight current and plenty of aquatic vegetation.
Though plentiful, A. bifurcatus is not of much epidemiological importance, so
far as the climate of Greece is concerned, as the adults appear too late in the year to
constitute a serious menace.
3. Anopheles (Mysomyia) superpictus, Grassi.
The larvae are met with, sometimes in great abundance, in small pools in the stoq
and pebbly beds of mountain rills where the water is warm and unshaded. In some
of its habitats very little macroscopic aquatic vegetation was present, in others there
ivere masses of Clndo@~orn sp., but only on the bottom, leaving a layer of clear
water on the top.
A tiny mountain spring near the village of Iiouloura was particularly instructive
3s to the bionomics of both A. sz~~~~~icfz~s and A. bifurcatt~s. This spring formed two
small pools, heavily shaded by bushes, which until last year contained great numbers
of larvae of A. biftzrcntzls and only an occasional A. sz+@‘ctus. Last summer the
bushes had been cut by peasants for fire wood, and the pools now received the full
force of the sun. This time I found them swarming with A. sz@~Qktus larvae, not
one of A. bifzucatus being present. In view of the relative inocuousness of
A. bifwcatw it is feasible that the presence of brushwood along mountain streams
may sometimes be of importance in malaria prevention.
The adult seems to bite more freely during the day than A. nzacdipewis.
4. Culex pipiens, Linnaeus.
The commonest Corfu mosquito. The larvae are found in all bodies of water of
not too great a size. They thrive both in open and in weedy pools, in the purest
and in the most contaminated water. I have even discovered them in the oily and
almost ink-coloured rain-water collected in disused olive-oil barrels. Their favourite
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