GENUS SABETHES 477 the venter yellow. Tibiae and first tarsal joints of middle legs provided with a paddle-shaped expansion of long, hair-like scales, the other legs simply densely scaled. Generally deeply coloured, with varying reflections throughout.
Head and appendages clothed with tlat, steel-blue scales ; anteiinte of ? , with very dense verticils, approachmg the characters of a male ; her palpi three-jointed, about one-fourth the length of the proboscis, acutely fusiform ; those of 3' > niuch shorter than the proboscis, the last three joints of nearly equal length, with tufts of long flexible, silky hairs. Thorax black, with flat purple and blue scales. Abdomen covered with deep blue scales, purple and coppery at the apex, Avith silvery spots laterally, yellow ventrally. Legs steel-blue or purple, the mid leg with a dense mass of long scales forming a kind of paddle on the tibia and first tarsal joint. AVings with rather large flat brown scales, violet along the costa. Length. — 6 unn.
Habitat. — Amazon region.
2. SABETHES NITIDUS, Theob. (Monog. II, p. 347).
Specimens of this new species have been recently received from Para. It closely resembles the preceding, differing mainly in the scaly " paddle " of the mid leg being white on its apical half, instead of wholly black.
3. SABETHES LONGIPES (Fabr.).
S. loculipcs, R. Desv.
Syst. Autl. iv, 400, 2 (1794), Fabricius ; Aussereurop. Zwei. Ins. i, 11 (1828), Wiedemann ; Essai s. 1. tr. d. Culicides, M6m. d. 1. See. d'Hist. Nat. de Paris, iii, (1827) {= loculipes), Desvoidy ; Hist. Nat. Dipt, i, 36, 16 (1834), Macquart ; Dipt. Exot. i, 34, 3, pi. 1, fig. 2 (1838), and Sup. i, 8, 9, pi. 1, fig. 2 (1848), Macquart ; Dipt. Argentina, p. 67 (1891), Arribdlzaga.)
Plate xi, fig 8+ Fore leg ; 8m, Mid leg ; 8h, Hind leg. "Wings unspotted; dusky-brown, but with some metallic lustre. Thorax unadorned, clothed with broad, lanceolate scales with azure-green and bronzy reflections. Abdomen unadorned, of much the same tinting, but the venter whitish. Last three midtarsal joints white ; the hind tarsi white beneath but dark above ; all three legs with broad paddle-shaped expansions. 5 . — ^Head dark brown, with metallic flat scales, mauve at the sides ; antennae dark brown, basal joint almost black, with a grey rim ; palpi very short, black scaled ; proboscis of moderate length, curved, blackscaled, metallic ; eyes and clypeus black. Thorax black, with metallic
478 GNATS OE MOSQUITOES — CHAPTER XIV coppery and iridescent scales ; abdomen black, with coppery and metallic pui-ple lustre. Legs deep metallic purple-blue, and the front pair with a small paddle, involvmg all the tibiae and half the first tarsal, which latter is white beneath ; the middle legs bear a much larger paddle, although the upper third of the tibia is unfringed, and has the first three tarsals white with long white lateral scales : hind legs with apex only of tibiae fringed, first three tarsi silvery- white beneath. Length. — 7 mm. Habitat. — Amazons (Bates), 1861 (F. V. T.) ; Guiana (Macq.) ; Brazil (Wied).
Genus XVIII. ^DOMYIA, Theobald (Monog. II, p. 218).
The character distinguishing these gnats from the rest of the suh family is the form of the wing scales, which are large and bracket-shaped, almost as in PanoplUes. The head is clothed with narrow upright scales, which are rather fan-shaped than forked ; on the thorax the scales are broad and lanceolate, and on the scutellum, pleurae and abdomen they are flat and spatulate; clypeus with tufts of scales ; metanotum nude. The venation of the wings is much of the usual type. The palpi are said to be two- or three-jointed, but this character is of little value in identification as the number cannot be determined without mounting the appendages separately in balsam. May be distinguished from Stegomyia (?) by the scutellum being clothed with broad flat, instead of narrow curved scales. 1. ^DOMYIA SQUAMEPENNIS (Arribal.).
^des squamipennis, Arribal. (" L. A." p. 62).
Wings with the purplish black costa interrupted by three clear white patches which extend across the wing and round its apex. Tarsi and legs elaborately banded, the long joints each with several yellow bands and with broad, irregularly basal and articular bands. Thorax unadorned, dark brown, with its scales yellowish in the middle, and white behind and at the sides. Abdominal segments brown, with two creamy patches on the hinder and two white ones on the fore borders, the apical segments ochreous. Proboscis black, with two narrow white bands. Apices of mid and hind femora with a tuft of long dark scales. Head whitish, with a tuft of broad creamy scales between the eyes and dark scales at the sides ; clypeus black, with two streaks of white
GENUS .EDOMYIA 479 scales ; palpi dark with ill-marked white banding, of the J , white at the apex; antennse nearly black, the last two joints being much thickened, and olive-shaped in the 3' • Scutellum whitish in the middle, with a tuft of black scales on each side. Pleurae dark brown, with whitish patches. Venter yellowish at the base, black with basal white patches behind. Length. — About 4 mm.
Habitat. — West Indies, South America, India, Straits Settlements. Enters houses a.nd bites, but not severely.
2. ^DOMYIA YENUSTIPES, Skuse.
jEdes Venustipes, Skuse (" S. A. C," p. 1761.) Wings with all the veins densely clothed with mixed brown and yellow scales, the former preponderating, but unspotted. (Scales described as " somewhat broad, more or less elliptical.") Fig. 47. —The wing of ^Edomyia venustipes.
Legs elaborately banded dark brown and white, the hind legs with all the two last tarsals white except the apex of the fifth joint, other joints with broad basal white bands. Thorax clothed with mixed brown and yellow scales, with apical and lateral yellow patches. Abdomen densely clothed with mixed brown and white scales, the latter preponderating on the sides and beneath. Proboscis deep brown with subapical and median white bands. There is no mention of any femoral tufts. Pleurae deep brown with white patches, scutellum with yellowish-brown scales. Length 3"81 mm.
Habitat. — Elizabeth Bay, Sydney, Australia.
Note. — Nothing corresponding to Skuse's description has come to hand from Australia, but the circumstance of Skuse describing it as ^Edes, together with the form of the wing scales, makes it probable that it belongs to this genus. As, however, he describes from a single female specimen, it is possible it may be a Panoplites. Its close general resemblance to the preceding species, however, makes this unlikely.
480 GNATS OR MOSQUITOES — CHAPTER XIV Genus XIX. ^DES, Meig.
(As restricted by Mr. Theobald, I\Ionog. II, p. 224.) Meigen's genus originally comprised all species having short palpi in both sexes. These, however, are of such very varying types that, in spite of the small number of species included, the separation of the preceding, and three other genera, has necessitated the revision of its definition which, in Mr. Theobald's restricted sense, is limited as follows : — "Head clothed with both Hat broad, and narrow curved scales, over the occiput, the former always predominating, the latter sometimes nearly absent. Thorax with narrow curved scales ; scutellum usually with four bristles to the mid lobe. Palpi short, aijparently two-jointed in both $ and $ , alwaj^s much shorter than the proboscis, rounded apically, scaly, and with a few bristles and hairs. Scutellum with narrow curved scales Antennae fourteen-jointed, plumose in the ^ , pilose in the $ , the second joint often rather swollen ; proboscis about the length of the antennte. Wings rather long, the scales much as in Culex, the lateral ones long and slender ; the first sub-margmal cell generally longer and narrower than the second posterior cell, both cells of moderate length. Legs with the ungues of the ? , both equal and toothed and simple, of the S , unequal, the larger toothed, the smaller toothed or notso.
" The essential characters are : (i.) The palpi short in both sexes ; (ii.) the palpi two-jointed ; (iii.) the wings clothed with ordinary scales as in Culex ; (iv.) curved scales only on thorax and scutellum. " In regard to the number of joints in the palpi there is some difference of opinion. Ficalbi says they are two-jointed, with a trace of a third joint. I cannot find more than two joints, but there is a basal notch which might be mistaken for a joint."
They are soberly coloin-ed insects, generally sylvan, and the European forms are said not to bite, though there is some doubt if this applies to the American and African species, and JE. Butleri, from the Malay peninsula, is said to be very troublesome. With the exception of J5. fnscits, they appear to be rare insects, as the number of specimens received in the Museum has been but small.
Table of Species of the Genus ^cles.
iii. Abdommal segments with pale basal bands.
1. Mdes fusciis, Osten-Sacken. Abdomen dull black, with creamy basal bands of crescentic form, vi. Abdominal segments unhanded, but with pale lateral spots. A. Anterior fork-cell longer than the posterior.
2. ^. Butleri, Theob. Abdomen intensely black, with white lateral patches. Anterior fork-cell twice the length of its stem.
GENUS ^DES 481 3. JSJ. nigricorpios, Theob. Generally resembles the above, but lias the fork-cells much longer. Thorax dark bronze, unadorned. B. Posterior fork ceU as long as the anterior. 4. M. Pembaensis, Theob. Thorax adorned with two pale stripes in front, viii. Abdomen unadorned.
A. Anterior fork cell longer than the posterior. 5. jE. Cinereits, Meig. Abdomen nearly black. Thorax dark, with a faint, pale median line.
6. jE. Ohscurus, Meig. Generally dusky. Under border of abdominal segments darker.
7. a^'. i?i<./tts, Gimmerthal. Abdomen nearly black. Thorax reddish, with median and lateral darker lines.
8. jE. jjertinans, Williston. Abdomen deep brown. Thorax unadorned, brown, and generally dusky.
9. ^'. pertiirhans, Williston. Abdomen and thorax alike eUow. B. Posterior fork-cell as long as the anterior. 10. J5. niger, Theob. Abdomen entirely black. Thorax brown. Pleurae pale.
1. >EDES FUSCUS, Osten-Sacken.
(Bull. U.S. Geol. Surv. p. 191.)
Abdominal segments steely-black, with creamy basal patches. Ground colour of thorax nearly black, with golden-brown, narrow curved scales. Legs bronzy-black ; the tarsi unhanded. Head dusky, with yellow lateral patches, and narrow eye-borders ; palpi very short, black, as also is the proboscis. Pleurae, chestnut-brown with white patches. Venter creamy-yellow. Femora silvery below, and with minute white knee-spot. Tarsal claws of ? , equal and simple; of $ , on the fore and mid legs unequal, the smaller simple, the larger with extra tooth ; on the hind legs equal, and both toothed. Length. — About 4mm.
Habitat. — ximerica ; Canada and United States. 2. ^DES BUTLERI, Theobald (Monog. II, p. 230). Abdominal segments intensely black, with white lateral basal spots. Wings with the anterior fork-cell longer than the posterior, and quite twice the length of its stem. Ground-colour of thorax black, uniformly clothed with dark bronzy, narrow curved scales.
5 . — Head black, with lateral patches, a narrow median line, and •delicate eye-borders, white ; clypeus and appendages black. Pleurae dark 31
482 GNATS OR MOSQUITOES — CHAPTER XIV umber-brown with four white patches. Wings dusky brown, with a peculiarly narrow, triangular, hinder fork-cell. Legs with femora pale beneath, and small white knee-spots. Tarsal claws equal, toothed at the base on the fore and mid legs ; simple in the hind pair. Length. — About 4 mm.
Habitat. — Jungle, Selangor ; Straits Settlement. Said to be common and troublesome.
3. iEDES NIGRICORPUS, Theob. (Monog. II, p. 231). Plate xiv, fig. 23, Venation of whig.
Veins of wing very densely clothed with uniformly black, long scales; anterior fork-cell three and a half times as long as its stem, the latter much shorter than the stem of the shorter and wider posterior fork-cell, which is, however, nearly twice as long as its stem. Tarsi uniformly black. Thorax clothed with narrow curved, black scales, on a black ground. Abdomen, seen from above, uniformly black, but with small white lateral spots. 9 . — The uniformly sooty tint of this species leaves little room for description. Seen from above it is entirely so, with the exception of a few white scales on the apices of the femora. The venter, however, has broad white basal bands. May be distinguished from the preceding species by the much greater length of the anterior fork-cell as compared with its stem, and in having some upright forked cells on the head which are absent in M. Butleri. Length. — About 2*8 mm. Habitat. — Described from a single, very well preserved $ specimen, sent me by Dr. Gray, of St. Lucia, West Indies ; the disc marked " St. Glivan, Castries." Also recorded from the Lower Amazon. 4. ^DES PEMBAENSIS, Theob. (Monog. II, p. 235). Closely resembles the two preceding species, but may be distinguished by the fork-cells being of nearly equal length, and their stems more than half the length of the cell. The head is blackish-brown, covered with flat scales, and like that of ^. Butleri ^ has no erect forked scales. The knees apparently unspotted. Described from a single 5 specimen. Length. — 4"5 mm. Habitat.— Vemha, Island, East Africa ; August.
5. ^DES CINEREUS, Meig. ("S. B." II, p. 13 ; " F. E." p. 300). Abdomen black, with a few grey scales at the sides, and a pair of basal white patches on the last segment. Thorax nearly black, with a faint median line of golden scales. "Wings densely
GENUS MD-ES 483 brown scaled ; the anterior fork-cell longer and narrower than the posterior, and but little longer than its stem. Head black, with dusky flat scales and black erect forked, in the ^ ; but with yellowish lateral patches, median line, and eye-borders in the 2 ; palpi black, short in both sexes, but with those of the S , distinctly shorter than the 5 . Pleurae nearly black, with a few white scales. Legs deep red-brown, rather paler at the articulations ; tarsal claws of fore and mid legs of <? , unequal, the larger only with an extra tooth simple and equal in the hind legs. Length. — about 6 mm. Habitat. — Throughout Europe, including England. 6. iEDES OBSCURUS, Meig. (M. S.).
In the collection of the Jardin des Plantes, I found a specimen, labelled as above, in Meigen's handwriting. It has the hind borders of the segments distinctly darker than in front, but cannot be said to be banded.
My notes on the venation of the wing, as roughly made out with a hand lens from a specimen I did not care to handle too curiously, correspond sufficiently well with Mr. Theobald's notes on ^. cinereus, with which I am inclined to thmk it must be identical. No such name is traceable in Meigen's works, and possibly the specimen was so labelled by him, before he had finally made up his mind how to call his new species, though it must be admitted that the name obscurus is much the more appropriate of the two.
7. iEDES RUFUS, Gimmerthal ("F. R." p. 300).
Is said to be redder than ^. cinereus, and to have three darker lines on the testaceous thorax.
Probably identical with the above, and in any case inadequately described.
8. ^DES PERTINANS, Williston.
Abdomen unhanded, brown. Thorax brown, unadorned tarsi unhanded (?), brown ; of a generally brown tint. Description from Williston, " Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond." 1896, p. 271 : " ^ and ? . — Face, basal joint of the antennae, and base of the proboscis yellowish ; antennas and the rest of the proboscis nearly black, the former only a httle more hoary in the <? , than in the $ ; the tenninal joint of the ^ , only a little longer than the preceding ones ; mesonotum brown, thickly clothed with dark brown scales ; pleurae yellow, with white tomentum. Abdomen deep brown, with brown scales. Venter yellow
484 GNATS OR MOSQUITOES — CHAPTER XIV with white scales; forceps of the $, small, yellow. Legs deep brown, the femora, and in a less degree the tibiae, showing the yellow ground colour on the under side. Wings nearly hyaline ; veins uniformly brown scaled. Length. — 3 mm.
" Habitat. — The coast of St. Vincent, West Indies, and on the hills at 1,000 ft."
9. iEDES PERTURBANS, Williston.
Abdomen varying from yellow to brown, unbauded. Thorax generally yellow, unadorned. Tarsi unbanded (?) brown ; general colouration yellowish.
Description from Williston, "Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond." 1896, p. 271: " (J and $ . — Head black ; antennae brown ; plumosity of the ^ , long, abundant and black ; terminal joint as long as the seven or eight preceding it together, and clothed with short hair ; in the $ , the joints are slenderer, and the end one is no longer than the two preceding ones combined ; the verticils of moderate length ; proboscis black, as long as the abdomen ; palpi brown. Thorax yellow ; inesonotum a little darker, and clothed with brown scales. Abdomen yellowish, yellowish-brown, or brown ; the terminal segment and the hy^aopygium brown or blackish, and clothed above with brown scales. Legs brown or blackish ; the femora for the most part yellow, with grey or purplish reflections in some lights. In some specimens, the tibiae largely yellowish beneath the tomentum. Veins of wings uniformly brown scaled. Length. — 4'5 mm. ^^ Habitat. — The island of St. Vincent, West Indies." Some specimens sent me by Dr. Lutz from San Paola, South America, labelled " wood mosquito, probably sp. n. of group ^VZes," corresponded entirely to Williston's description, but the specimens, unfortunately, arrived in a terribly damaged condition. The body was clothed with mixed brown and yellow scales. Mr. Theobald believes the species to be identical with his Wyeomyia Grayii, in which case the latter would stand as W. ]}erturhans (Williston). We have not seen the type. 10. ^DES NIGER, Theobald (Monog. II, p. 237).
Abdomen uniformly black. Thorax nearly black, paler on the pleurae and at the roots of the v^ings. Anterior fork-cell barely longer than the posterior, its stem two-thirds as long as its cell.
2 . — Head and appendages dark brown, the former clothed with dusky flat scales, with three dark bristles projecting forwards and inwards on each side. Legs dark brown, except on the coxae which are pallid, with very small simple tarsal claws. Halteres, with white stem and black knob. Length. — 2 mm.
Habitat. — Old Calabar, West Africa.