NOTES ON SOME MOSQUITOES OF DOUGLAS COUNTY. By CHAUNCEY OVERMAN, University of Kansas, Lawrence. TOWARDS the latter part of the month of September, 1905, mosquitoes became so exceedingly numerous that the daily papers referred to the "plague of mosquitoes." This condition was due to the excessive rainfall and the warm weather which prevailed throughout the month, conditions favorable to rapid propagation. At the suggestion of Professor Hunter, several hundred were collected, with a view of ascertaining the proportion of the Anopheles or malaria-carrying genus. Of the total number collected, 150 were selected as representative, and were classified. All the specimens were taken within two miles of the University and within about the same distance of the Kansas river. The majority taken. were on rather low ground, although they were quite plentiful on the University campus. About twenty per cent. were taken in bedrooms. Most of the collecting was done with a cyanide bottle, although a net was used on a few occasions. The period of collection was from September 20 to December 6. During the early part of the season the proportion of males was not more than five per cent., but after the first of November it increased to fully thirty per cent. The distribution as to sex was as follows: C. pipiens Linn. Fifty-nine males, fourteen females. This is a medium-sized brown mosquito, and by far the most numerous form in this vicinity. It is found indoors more often than any other. It does not seem to be so susceptible to cold, as it is common several weeks after frost. C. sollicitans Walk. Twelve females, three males. A rather large mosquito, with conspicuously banded legs. It is found on high and on low ground and indoors. It is a hard biter, especially after night. It is a quite common species during warm weather, but disappears with frost. C. inconspicuous Grossbeck. Seven females. About the size of C. pipiens, but is quite yellowish. Taken on high ground. C. consobrinus Desv. (C. inornatus Will.) Twelve females. A brown mosquito, resembling C. pipiens but distinguished from it by the greater length of the petiole of the first submarginal cell. It is much more common on high ground than on low. It is hard to take with a cyanide bottle, and I have never observed it to bite. It is found after frost. C. consobrinus is the same as specimens in the University museum labeled C. inornatus. C. restuans Theob. Five females. This mosquito much resembles C. pipiens, but has two white dots on the shoulders. It is described by Smith sometimes as having a U-shaped mark on the posterior portion of the thorax, but I have never observed this. Felt, in Bulletin 79 of New York State Museum, states that the dots on the shoulders are also variable. C. territans Walk. Three females. A small, blackish mosquito, with unbanded legs. Found only on low, swampy ground during warm weather. C. melanurus Coq. Four females. A medium-sized species, dark brown in color, the segments of the abdomen unbanded or but very slightly at their base. The three posterior segments always unbanded. C. tarsalis Coq. Two females. A medium-sized brown mosquito, with banded legs. Taken on University campus early in October. Habits unknown. C. perturbans Walk. Two females. A rather small, dark mosquito, the dark scales on the wings giving them a clouded appearance. Taken last week in October. Habits unknown. C. stimulans Walk. (C. cantans Coq.) One male. A brown mosquito, having the basal bands of the tarsi very wide. Taken in September. C. impiger Walk. One male. A small, dark form. Wings long and (narrow. Taken October 15, on swampy ground, C. signifer Coq. One female. A medium-sized black mosquito. The shoulders are marked by longitudinal white lines; legs deep black, contrasting sharply with the white bands. Wings covered with about equal number of white and black scales. Genus ANOPHELES. A. punctipennis Say. Two males, sixteen females. The most common malaria mosquito. They were found most abundantly along a ravine, near which was the only house in the city having severe cases of malaria. They are the hardiest species of mosquitoes, being found indoors and on the sunny sides of buildings as late as December 6. The wings are heavily marked with black. A. maculipennis Meig. Three females. This mosquito is not at all common. It may be distinguished from A. punctipennis by the wings being almost clear and marked by four distinct black spots. SOME RESULTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS ENTOMOLOGICAL EXPEDITIONS THE To Galveston and Brownsville, Tex., in 1904 and 1905. By F. H. SNOW, University of Kansas, Lawrence. HE writer conducted two entomological expeditions to Texas for the museum of the University of Kansas in the years 1904 and 1905. Each of these expeditions had Brownsville, the extreme southern point of the state, as its objective point, but on account of the wretched connections with the one lone steamer between Galveston and our destination, as well as the limited time at our disposal, we spent the three weeks of our first stay, in May, at Galveston, but succeeded in reaching our original destination by rail in 1905, by the new Gulf Coast line. We remained at Browns. ville from June 6 to July 8, encamped within a mile of the postoffice, beside the estuary, or old bed of the Rio Grande, which forms a part of the dividing line between the United States and Mexico. The entire collecting period of the two trips was seven and a half weeks. My associates at Galveston were my regular museum assistant, Mr. E. S. Tucker, and a postgraduate student in entomology, Dr. Charles F. Adams, the well-known dipterologist. At Brownsville I was assisted by Mr. Tucker and an undergraduate student, Mr. E. G. Corwine. The success of the two expeditions was largely due to the efficient cooperation of these gentlemen. This paper contains lists of the species collected in the orders of Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, and Hemiptera-heteroptera. Lists in the other orders of insects will be published at a later date. I. LIST OF LEPIDOPTERA. Grateful acknowledgments are hereby tendered to Dr. Henry Skinner, Prof. John B. Smith and Mr. W. D. Kearfott for important aid in the determination of species. The numbers and nomenclature are those of Smith's check-list of 1903. Abbreviations: B. for Brownsville; G. for Galveston. Family NYMPHALIDÆ. 2 Danais berenice Cram. B. 8a Colænis delila Fabr. B. |