TABLE OF STEGOMYI^ 369 third of the length of the proboscis ; those of the $ are as long, or longer than the proboscis. Wings with similar venation to that of typical Culex, but the fork-cells short."
Table of Species of the Genus Stegomyia.
A. The proboscis with a pale band in both sexes. 1. 8. notoscripta, Skuse. Thorax elaborately adorned with fine white lines, femora with longitudinal white lines. 2. 8. periskelata, sp. n. Thorax unadorned, all the femora with a broad white garter a little above the apex. B. The proboscis with a pale band in one sex. 3. 8. pipersalata, sp. n. Proboscis banded m the $ but not in the ? . Wmgs and body brindled throughout, with intermixed black and white scales.
C. The proboscis unhanded.
a. Last hind tarsal joints all white.
a. With some of the other tarsal joints basally light banded. 4. 8. fasciata (Fabr.). Thorax dark, with prominent white, lyre-shaped adornment.
5. 8. scutellaris, Walker. Thorax black, with a broad medium white line in front, but without lateral curved lines. 6. 8. sugens (Wied.). Thorax red-brown, with 2 pairs of silvery lateral spots.
7. 8. nigeria, Theobald. Thorax nearly black, with 2 short rows of white scales across the front, and a pair of lateral white spots, just visible from above. )3. With some of the other tarsal joints apically light banded. 8. 8. Marshallii, Theobald. Thorax dark grounded, with chestnut scales, and 2 distinct, and 1 indistinct pair of lateral white spots.
b. With some of the tarsal joints basally banded, but the last joint of hind legs not entirely white.
i. The abdominal segments with pale basal bands and lateral spots. 9. 8. Africana, Theobald. Thorax dark, with white adornment.
10. 8. sexlineata, Theobald. Thorax nearly black, with 6 fine, longitudinal white lines, femora spotted, but not striped.
ii. The abdominal segments with basal bands expanding at the sides to form lateral lines.
11. 8. Grantii, Theobald. Thorax chestnut, with elaborate adornment of fine white lines. Upper leg joints with 3 white longitudinal stripes.
24
B70 GNATS OK MOSQUITOES — CHAPTER XIII vi. The abdominal segments unhanded, but with lateral white spots.
12. S. terrens, "Wallier. Thorax mouse coloured, with some traces of white adornment.
d. With some of the tarsi pale banded, on the articulations, i.e., two joints participating in the band.
i. The abdominal segments, with white basal bands and lateral spots.
13. S. sigyiifer (Coquillett ) ? Evidently much resembles S. fasciata. Position uncertain.
iii. Some of the abdominal segments with basal white bands, but without lateral spots.
14. S. pseudoteeniata, sj}. n. Thorax black, adorned with fine white lines, much as in S. notoscrij^ta. V. With some of the abdominal segments banded white, alike at base and apex.
15. S. tarsalis, Coquillett. Thorax black, with linear white adornment, all abdominal segment with basal white bands, the last 3 white also on the apices.
vi. Abdominal segments unhanded, but some adorned with lateral white spots.
16. S. guhernatoris, sp. n. Thorax sooty, with a large anterior median and four smaller snowy lateral marks at the corners of the niesonotum.
€. With the tarsi unhanded.
iii. Some of the abdominal segments with basal light bands, but without lateral spots.
17. S. microptera, sp. n. Thorax unadorned, black grounded with bronzy scales.
iv. Some of the abdominal segments with apical light bands. 18. S. crassipes (Van der Wulp). Mesonotum imadorned, bronzy, but with white scales on the scutellum. 19. S. irritans. Thorax dark, unadorned ; antennae of $ very short, vi. Abdommal segments unhanded, but some adorned with lateral white spots only.
'20. 8. argenteo-punctata, Theobald. Thorax dark amberbrown, with 6 white spots. Scutellum with 3 white patches.
21. S. minuta, Theobald. Thorax black, with irregular white submedian lines and a pair of white spots. Scutellum with a line of white scales.
22. S. nigricephala, Theob. Thorax nearly black, quite unadorned on the dorsum, but with two white pleural patches. Head entirely black.
GENUS STEGOMYIA 371 viii. Abdominal segments unadorned.
23. 8. brevipalpis, sp. n. Thorax unadorned, dark. Palpi of <y much sliorter than the proboscis, venter pale, unhanded. 1. STEGOMYIA NOTOSCRIPTA, Skuse ("S. A. C." p. 1738). Plate xiv, fig. 1, To show decoration of thorax and head. "Wing veins uniformly black scaled. Tarsal joints black with four broad basal bands on the hind and two on each of the fore and mid, sometimes a trace of a third on the latter. Thorax black, elaborately adorned with fine snowy lines {vide figure). Abdominal segments black with very narrow snowy basal bands and triangular lateral patches and a ferruginous hinder fringe. Proboscis with a broad silvery band a little beyond the middle. Head black, with the orbits and a triangular occipital patch snowy. Palpi of S" black with broad snowy basal bands to the last two segments somewhat ochreous at base ; of ? , black with the apex snowy. Scutellum mouse-coloured with a single basal row of white scales and a few more on the middle lobe ; pleurae and coxae elaborately marbled with brown lines and snowy patches. Legs intensely black, the femora and tibia ornamented with a brilliant longitudinal silvery line. Anterior tarsal claws of the J , unequal and toothed, the others simple, but all unequal; of the ^ toothed in all three pairs of legs, those of fore and mid legs markedly unequal, those of the hind symmetrical. Length. — 4*5mm.
Habitat. — New South Wales, September to January; Adelaide, October ; Queensland, January. Appears a widely distributed Australian gnat. Skuse says that the ova are deposited in boat-shaped masses of 300 or more and that the larvae swarm on water-butts, so that clearly all Stegomyice do not deposit their eggs separately. 2. STEGOMYIA PERISKELATA, Sp. n.
Plate xiv, fig. 22, Cephalic appendages of J^ . Wings densely black scaled. Tarsal joints with minute basal yellowish bands to all the joints, the bands being specially narrow on the hind pair. Thorax black grounded with narrow curved golden scales and numerous long black bristles. Abdomen dark brown, sooty behind, with barely perceptible pale basal bands and brilliant triangular snowy lateral spots. Proboscis black, with a broad snowy band.
^. — Head white with two broad black lateral bands of black, imbricated scales cutting off a large median triangular patch on the nape. Proboscis spatulate black with a broad snowy band beyond the middle. Palpi equalhng the proboscis in length, basal joint minute, the next two
372 GNATS OR MOSQUITOES — CHAPTER XIII very long and sub-equal, the last two also sub-equal, but very short ; entirely black except the last joint, which is snowy. Antennae quite as long as the proboscis, the hairs of its verticils exceptionally long and dense. The knee spots are barely perceptible, but each ferour shows a distinct broad white garter (nepia-KeAis) about a quarter from its tip. Pleurae with snowy spots ; halteres entirely pale. Scutellum with pale brown scales ; venter dark grey, with white basal spots. Length. — 4 mm. Habitat. — Shahjahanpur, N.W.P. in October.
3. STEGOMYIA PIPERSALATA, Sp. n.
Plate xvi, fig. la, Venation of ^ wing ; lb. The same, moi-e amplified to show distribution of dark and light scales.
Wings densely clothed with, for the most part, black scales, but on the costa and along the bases of the long veins, are scattered snowy scales. Tarsal joints moderately broadly basally banded wnth snowy white, on all of the hind, the upper three of the mid, and the upper two of the joints of the fore leg. Thorax, black-grounded, clothed with narrow curved, mouse-coloured scales, with some whitish ones laterally which form indistinct curved markings. Abdomen sooty, with snowy lateral spots on the bases of the segments, which in the ? , especially on the anterior segments, may be connected to form narrow bands. Proboscis banded in the <? , but not distinctly so in the ? . Head, with black forked scales, and mouse-coloured long narrow ones. Antennae fuscous, those of the 3' about equalling the proboscis in length. Palpi of ? black, with whitish tips ; of the male, very little longer than the proboscis, first joint minute, second and third sub-equal, and together near as long as the proboscis, with an indistinct band on the articulation between them, placed a good deal inside the band on the proboscis ; last two joints short and sub-equal, a band between them and the third, and all the end joint, whitish. Proboscis black at the base, testaceous at the tip, with a broad band of white, well beyond the middle, in the i^ , but barely perceptible in the 2 . Legs with a patch of white scales just above the tips of the femora, in the ^ , but not in the 2 . The wings, legs and all other appendages are most curiously brindled with a mixture of snowy and black scales, the latter greatly preponderating, so that the insect looks peppered and salted. No other mosquito at all likely to be mistaken for this species, has this mixture of white with black scales on the wings. Length.— About 3 mm.
Habitat. — Jhansi, Gonda, N.W. Provinces, India.
4. STEGOMYIA FASGIATA (Fabr.).
Plate xiv, fig. 2, Venation of wing ; fig. 3, To show body adornment. = C. tcxniat2is, Wied ; =C. calojms, Meig., Macquart; =C. f rater, Desv. ; = C. mosquito, Desv. Ficalbi ; =C. exagitans, Walker; =C. inexorabilis.
GENUS STEGOMYIA 373 Walker; —C. formosus, Walker; = C. a^onaii^es, Walker ; =C. excitans, Walker ; — C. viridifrons. Walker ; — G. impatibilis. Walker ; = C. Bancroftii, Skuse ; = C mos^^ito, Arribalzaga ; =C. elegans, Ficalbi ; =C. Eossii, Giles.
(Syst. Antl. 36, 13 (1805), Fabr. ; Aussereurop. Zweifliig. Insec. p. 8 {18-28), {—fasciatus), Wiedemann; Aussereurop. Zweifliig. Insec. p. 10 (18*28), Wiedemann ( = tceniatus) ; Bull. Soc. Ent. Ital. p. 251 (1896), Ficalbi ( = C. elegans); Jour. Trop. Med. p. 64 (1899), Giles ( = C. RohsU) ; Dipt. Argent. Kevista d. Museo d. 1. Plata, p. 60, fig. 2, pi. iii, Arribalzaga ( = C. mosquito); Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. Wales, iii, p. 1740, Skuse ( = G. Bancroftii) (1886) ; Ins. Saundersiana, p. 430, Walker { = exagitans); Dipt. Insects Brit. Mus. pt. 1, p. 4 (1848) {=inexorabilis) ; {ibid.) p. 4 ( = formosus) ; Proc. Linn. Soc. Lond. v, p. 229, Walker {= zonatipes) ; Brit. Mus. List, i, p. 4 (1848), Walker (=excitans) ; B. M. List, p. 8, Wlk. {=^ viridifrons) ; Syst. Beschr. Zwei. i, p. 8 (1818), Meigen { = calopiis); Dipt. Exotica, i, Macq. { = calopus) (1888); Bull. Soc. Ent. Ital. p. 251 (1896), Ficalbi ( = caZoi3zts) ; Journ. Proc. Linn. Soc. iv, p. 91 (1860), Wlk. ( = impatibilis).) Wings densely clothed with very long black scales of three grades of length. Last hind tarsal joints and all but apex of next snowy; all the other joints of the hind, the upper three of the mid and the upper two of the fore legs of the otherwise black tarsi basally white banded, very broadly so on the hind. Thorax from a velvety-black with reddish reflections, to a golden-brown in some specimens, elaborately marked with rather broad silvery lines arranged somewhat in the form of a lyre {vide fig. 3, PI. xiv). First abdominal segment creamy-white, the others black with narrow basal bands and brilliant lateral tufts of snowy-white. Proboscis unhanded black.
Head black with narrow white orbits and two faint patches of white on the occiput, divided by delicate median and lateral black lines ; palpi black with white tips in the ? , or in the S' ? with four white basal bands. Pleurse dark brown with several white patches ; scutellum with a thick row of white scales and three strong tufts of bristles ; halteres yellowish with darker knobs. Tarsal claws of ^ unequal on the fore and mid legs, with an accessory tooth on the larger claw of the fore pair only ; in the J symmetrical, with accessory teeth in both claws of the fore and mid feet and the hind claws simple. Length varies greatly, but is never more than of moderate size, and is often very small. In some very dwarf specimens sent me from Calcutta by Major Alcock, the length of the wing was but 2 mm.
Habitat. — This is the most widely distributed gnat of the entire family, being found throughout the entue tropical and sub-tropical zones, but does not appear to occur north of Italy. In the N.W.P. of India it is purely a rainy weather species, but it appears to be in evidence all the year round in such climates as Bombay, and I also found it in Egypt as early as February.
374 GNATS OR MOSQUITOES — CHAPTER XIII Note. — The original descriptions are not only inadequate but misleading, and owing to this it has been re-described as a distinct species by almost every naturalist who has devoted special attention to the family. Added to this it varies greatly, not only in size but in coloration, but it can always be recognised by the pecuhar lyre-shaped decoration of the thorax, drawn in thicker lines than in any similarly decorated species, and by the broad banding of the hind feet. Mr. Theobald describes two varieties in addition to the typical species, viz., var. Lucieiisis, characterised by the last hind tarsal having a black tip — a peculiarity I have seen on occasional Indian specimens, as well as in those from St. Lucia, while from Antigua I have found both mixed in a single consignment of specimens. C. mosquito, Desv., nee Arribal., is said to have only the lateral curved marks present on the thorax and var. 8. Queen slandiensis has the mid lobe of the scutellum purple scaled, and the apices as well as the bases of the abdominal segment white. Specimens hatched out, however, from the same tank vary so much inter se, that I doubt the advantage of giving special varietal names to individuals exhibiting some one or other peculiarity. 5. STEGOMYIA SCUTELLARIS (Walker.)
= C. albopictus, Skuse ^ C. variegatus (Dol.)
Plate xiv, fig. 4, Venation of wmg ; fig. 5, Head and thorax of ^ . (Journ. Proc. Linn. Soc. Lond. ill, p. 77 (1859), Wlk. ; Indian Museum Notes, iii, 5, p. 20, Skuse (= C. albopictus) ; Natuurkundig, Tijdschr. v. Ned. Ind. xvii, p. 77, Doleschall.)
Veins of wings uniformly, and densely black-scaled. Hind tarsal joints exactly as in S. fasciata ; fore and mid tarsi with narrow basal bands to the two first joints only. Thorax nearly black with a conspicuous broad median snowy Ime (which is continued over the head). Abdominal segments sooty, with very narrow, basal snowy bands, broadening externally, especially on fourth and fifth segments, where they form distinct lateral patches. Proboscis, unhanded black.
5 . — Head with two patches of dark scales on each side, separating broad median and lateral patches of silverj^ scales, which form a bright spot in front, and with silvery orbits ; antennae dark brown, faintly paler banded at the joints, with a tuft of silvery scales on the basal joints, forming two distinct spots; palpi black with a silvery white apical joint; proboscis black. Palpi of ^ slightly longer than the proboscis, black, with four snowy bands, the two outer of which are incomplete. Scutellum bordered with white scales ; pleurae with numerous snowy patches. Halteres with pale stems and fuscous knobs. Legs intensely black, with white knee-spots as well as the above-mentioned tarsal adornment. Tarsal claws of ? untoothed ; of ^ very unsyiumetrical, the large outer claws alone with extra tooth on fore and mid legs, simple and equal on hind. Length. — About 4-5 mm., varies a good deal in size.
GENUS STEGOMYIA 375 Habitat. — Is one of the commonest Indian S.W. monsoon gnats, commoner than any other Stegomyia m the N.W.P. Has also been taken in Amboina, Siam and China.
6. STEGOMYIA SUGENS (Wied.)
= C. vittatus, Bigot.
Auss. Zweifllig. Insec. p. 545 (1828), Wied. ; Ann. Soc. Ent. d. Fr. S. 4, t. 1 (1861), Bigot {= vittatus); Bull. Soc. Ent. Ital. p. 257 (1886), Picalbi (= vittatus).
Veins of wings with long narrow brown scales. Hind tarsi with the last joint pure white and three white basal rings ; fore and mid tarsi each with three basal white bands. Thorax with red-brown scales and two white spots on each side of the mesonotum. Abdominal segments black with white basal bands and lateral spots and a median spot on the last. Proboscis black, unhanded, but with sometimes a few white scales in the middle. Head black, with orbits, and median and lateral occipital patches white ; some of the hinder forked scales are white. Antennae banded,, with a patch of white scales on scaphus ; clypeus nearly black with two white spots, palpi black with, in the ? , the last joint white ; those of (^ black, much longer than the proboscis, with four equidistant white bands, but black at the tip. Thorax of <? with four grey longitudinal lines in addition to the four white spots ; scutellum with four silvery spots ; pleurae dark with only a few white dots. Legs black with the bases of the hind femora pallid, with white knees and subapical garters on the femora as well as on all the tibiae at the junction of the upper and middle thirds. Venter black with basal white bands. Halteres pale with dark knobs. Tarsal claws of ? equal, those of fore and mid legs with an extra tooth to both claws. Those of hind simple ; of the <? markedly unequal, both claws with an extra tooth on the fore and mid l^airs, small and simple on the hind legs. Length. — 4'3 mm. Habitat. — Freetown, Sierra Leone, September, October. Mashonaland, Corsica, Nubia.
7. STEGOMYIA NIGERIA, Theobald (Monog. I, p. 303). Wing veins with long, brown scales, reddish at the base. Last hind tarsal joints white and all but the apex of the next, and with basal white bands on the other three ; fore and mid tarsi all black, but for a couple of basal spots (not bands) on the mid legs. Thorax with a thick covering of nearly black scales, with two narrow rows of white scales across it in front and a patch of the same on either side, rarely visible from above. Abdomen with
376 GNATS on MOSQUITOES — CHAPTER XIII intensely purple-black scales with brilliant white lateral spots and a narrow row of brownish scales across their hinder borders ; on flexion narrow basal white bands become visible. Proboscis uniformly black.
5 . — Head black, with a narrow patch of white scales in the middle ; palpi black, with white scales at the tip, and a few long bristles ; proboscis black, antennae dark brown ; basal joint black, with a tuft of white scales, forming two white spots just below the eyes, and on each side of a small tuft of white down projecting between the eyes, which are black and reddish, with a very narrow border of white scales. Scutellum dark, with a few white scales ; pleurae with silvery dots. Legs dark brown. Wings with "4" far internal to " 3 " and I. much curved. Length. — 4"5 mm.
Habitat. — Bonny, West Africa; November (described from a single ?).
8. STEGOMYIA MARSHALLII, Theobald (Monog. I, p. 310). Veins of wings with brown scales, a patch of white at base of costa in $ only. Last hind tarsal joints pure white, the other joints with snowy apical bands; mid and fore tarsi with an apical white band on the first joint only. Thorax dark grounded, clothed with narrow curved, chestnut scales, with four distinct white spots in front and two, less conspicuous, behind. Abdominal segments dark brown, ochreous behind with lateral silvery spots in the 5 , or with white basal bands to third, fourth and eighth segments and broad lateral spots on fifth, sixth and seventh. Proboscis unhanded. Differs from S. viitatus in the tarsal bands being apical.
5 .—Head black, covered with bronzy-black scales in the middle, two silvery-white patches in front on each side divided by a dull purplish and dusky ochreous mass of flat scales : behind are some grey curved scales and numerous upright black forked ones ; palpi short, covered with deep brown scales.
(J . — Palpi brown, with three pale rings, the two apical ones on the bases of the two last joints, the last two joints are short, about equal, and together not much more than half the length of the third joint. Pleurae marbled with white, ferruginous, and brown scales ; scutellum brown with flat silvery scal^es. Legs dark brown with minute white knee-spots, and subapieal white dots on the fore and mid femora. Tibiae, all with an apical snowy spot in front. All tarsal claws of ^ with an accessory tooth very unequal on fore and mid feet ; of ? equal with an accessory tooth to the thick, blunt fore claws only. Halteres yellowish with darker Imobs. Length.— 3-5 to 4 mm.
Habitat.— Salishm-y (4,000 feet), Mashonaland.