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

MOSQUITOES OF NORTH AMERICA
and clothed with dense, stout spines and short setae, the short setae
extending as an irregular double row along the inner margin to the
outer fourth of the side piece. Clasper more than half as long as
the side piece, slightly expanded at the middle. Claspette with a
short, cylindrical somewhat pilose stem; filament ligulate, with a
curved blunt apex, reaching to outer fourth of side piece, Mesosome
a long, narrow cylinder, closed on the dorsal surface but open medi-
anly on the ventral side except at the base. Lobes of the ninth tergite
short and each bears a row of short rather stout spines.
Larva. Head wider than long, antenna slender, without spines, a
single hair at the middle; upper and lower head-hairs single ; an-
teantennal tuft multiple. Lateral comb of eighth segment of about
twelve scales in two irregular rows. Anal segment with dorsal plate
reaching about half-way down the sides; dorsal brush of a small tuft
and a single hair each side; ventral brush reduced to about three
small tufts. Anal gills very large, four times as long as anal seg-
ment, broad, square-tipped. Air-tube nearly three times as long as
wide; pecten evenly spaced on basal third; hair-tuft multiple, at mid-
dle of air-tube.
This species occurs throughout the Pacific Coast region, from
British Columbia to southern California. It breeds in water-
filled tree holes’, especially those found in oaks, though it has
been found in artificial containers. The females are good biters
and are troublesome in some sections of its range as it readily
passes through the ordinary screen. The males are attracted
to warm-brlooded animals where they await the females in
order to mate.
AEDES EGYPTI Linnaeusl (Stegom3Ga fascia’ta of authors).
Cztlex agyjti Linnaeus, Hass. Pal. Keise, 370. 1762.
Female. Length 4 mm.; wing 3.5 mm. Proboscis slender, black.
Palpus black, the apex broadly white scaled above. Occiput black,
a narrow median stripe of flat, white scales continued forward between
the eyes; lateral scales blackish brown ; two narrow patches of white
scales on the side and a narrow line of white scales along the eye
margin ; the nape with pale yellow erect narrow scales. Mesonotum
black, bronzy brown scaled; a small white patch at the middle of the
1 The synonymy and references to this species are so numerous
that they cannot be included here. The reader is referred to Dyar
(192s).