a handbook of the mosquitoes of north america - Systematic Catalog ...

134 MOSQUITOES OF NORTH AMERICA
tiple. Comb of eighth segment of numerous scales in a triangular
patch. Anal segment longer than wide, not ringed by the dorsal
plate; dorsal brush a long hair and a tuft on each side ; ventral brush
with small tufts in front of the barred area. Anal gills very short,
globular. Air-tube about twice as long as wide; pecten of evenly
spaced teeth followed by a mutiple tuft at the middle of the air-
tube.
This species is restricted to the Californian Coast, extending
from San Francisco Bay south to San Diego. It breeds in the
brackish water of the salt marshes and the adults frequently
migrate considerable distances inland. It bites viciously, at-
tacking all warm-blooded animals during the day, but it is most
annoying before dusk.
AEDES AURIFER COqUilktt
Cdex aurifer Coquillett, Can. Ent., 35, 255. 1903.
Female. Length 5 mm.; wing 4.5 mm. Proboscis long, slender,
black. Occiput black; a narrow, median line of yellowish scales, a
black patch each side, the sides densely covered with broad, flat, yel-
lowish-white scales; forked erect black scales numerous on the nape
and on the sides of the vertex. Mesonotum black, a broad, bronzy-
brown median stripe, widening posteriorly, the sides almost golden
yellow; antescutellar spaces largely golden yellow with a short, nar-
row line of yellow scales each side. Abdomen clothed with broad,
bluish-black scales; the apical margins of the segments with fine, long
brownish hairs; each segment with small, lateral, basal whitish spots,
Wing scales black or brownish-black. Legs black scaled, with a
bronzy lustre.
Male hypopygium. (Fig. 5, Pl. XII.) Side-piece over twice as
long as wide; distal end, just beyond apical lobe, with a tuft of long
stout hairs ; apical lobe prominent, broadly rounded, bearing short
straight and retrorse setae; basal lobe a narrow, elongate projection
bearing a long stout spine at its apex. Clasper long, expanded at the
middle. Claspette with slender, setose base; near outer end is a
slight elevation which bears a short seta; filament large, with a
slender stem and a broad, sharply pointed blade, the base with a
large, retrorse branch. Mesosome cylindrical, the apical half be-
coming somewhat conical ; narrowly open along the median ventral
line, closed at the base and with a very thin chitinous covering on