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

170 MOSQUITOES OF NORTH AMERICA
terior margin on mesonotum. Antescutellar space edged with white.
Abdomen black with broad segmental basal bands of yellowish white
scales; venter with yellowish scales, each segment with a V-shaped
marking of black scales, the apex of the V anteriorly. Wings with
brown scales intermixed with white on costa and subcosta. Legs
slender; femora black, tips white and a narrow white line on either
side; tibia black, base and apex white and a narrow white line on
either side; tarsi black, hind tarsi with apical and basal white bands
on all segments, mid tarsi similar except last segment brownish-black,
fore tarsi with last two segments brownish black.
Male hypopygium. (Fig. 2, Pl. XVIa.) Side-pieces somewhat
more than twice as long as wide; apical lobe prominent, triangular,
and bears usually five appendages-beginning at apical margin, a
seta, a narrow leaf, a seta and two rods. Clasper short, gradually
tapering from the base. Tenth sternites prominent, heavily chitinized,
each terminating in a large crown of short bristles, the outer bristles
blunt, the inner ones sharply pointed. Mesosome divided, each half
consisting of two median sword-like processes and an outer more
heavily chitinized part terminating in four stout teeth. Lobes of the
ninth segment remote, small, with a few short spines.
Larva. Length about 8 to 9 mm. Head wider than long; an-
tennae long, curved, the basal two-thirds spinose and enlarged, apical
third smooth, tapering, tuft multiple, situated beyond the middle;
anteantennal tuft and both upper and lower head tufts multiple. Ab-
dominal lateral hairs of the third to the sixth segment triple. Lateral
comb of the eighth segment of numerous scales arranged in a tri-
angular patch. Anal segment slightly longer than wide, ringed by
the plate; dorsal brush a long hair and a multiple tuft on each
side; ventral brush well developed, posterior to the anal plate. Air-
tube slender, long, a little more than four times as long as wide, uni-
formly tapering; pecten extending over basal third, of evenly spaced
teeth; tufts of five pairs, multiple, gradually decreasing in size to-
wards apex, none displaced or out of line.
The larvae inhabit almost every kind of ground pool, breed-
ing in great abundance in foul water, either in the open or in
shaded areas. This species is recorded as the dominant spe-
cies throughout the arid areas, of the west and is most wide-
spread in California, occurring up to elevations of 7,000 feet.
It is not recorded as a severe biter of man but is said to pre-
fer avian blood. Hearle (1926) states-“It is one of the most