Page:Tropical Diseases.djvu/179

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147

SUB-FAMILY CULICINÆ: TABLE OF TRIBES
Proboscis Straight.
Metanotum Nude.
Scutellum Trilobate: abdomen completely invested with close overlapping scales Culicint.
Simple, not trilobate: abdomen never completely and uniformly covered with scales Anophelini.
With a tuft of bristles: a pair of very large bristles projecting
horizontally forwards from crown of head
Sabethini.
Tapering and recurved.
Flat scales on all parts of body: large, iridescent mosquitoes Megarhini.

The Megarhini are jungle mosquitoes. From the structure of their proboscis it is very improbable that they can bite. Their larvæ, which occur chiefly in the water that collects in holes in trees, bamboo-stumps, etc., are predacious, and undoubtedly destroy the larvæ of other mosquitoes having the same breeding habits. The Sabethini are also jungle mosquitoes breeding almost exclusively in the water that collects in the axils and bracts of leaves and in "pitchers" and other such modified parts of plants.