Mouth Parts of Mosquito Larvae As Indicative of Habits

The larvae of the Culicidae follow the usual rule that a difference in the structure of the mouth parts is correlated with a corresponding difference in their food habits. This fact first forced itself upon the writer’s attention when studying the habits of the Louisiana species, while making drawings and dissections for Dr. J. W. Dupree, and was later confirmed when making dissections and drawings of larvae of additional species for Dr. Howard’s forthcoming monograph of this family. These larvae fall into two categories, viz.: ,. Insectivorous, which, like Megarhinus and f’sorohora, normally prey upon smxll aquatic larvae; and 2. Nonsectivorous, like Culex, which feed on Euglena and other protozoa, bacteria and vegetable matter; while between these groups are two others, somewhat interme_ diate, viz.: the Urazolaenia and Anopheles groups. That the differences in habits are correlated with marked differences in the structure of the mouth parts will be seen by the following critical comparison of the types of these four groups: