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It has been mentioned already that there are some who maintain that a
generic grouping based on scale structure is not satisfactory, and it is admitted
by all who have studied the subject that the distinctions between some of the
genera are very slight and therefore that it is difficult to decide whether a
specimen shall be classified for example as an Anopheles or as a Myzomyia
or as a Pyretophorus. Not everyone, also, has sufficient perseverance, or
sufficient leisure, to study the subject carefully, and for this reason it is
fortunate that the number of different species of Anopheline mosquitoes in any
particular area, or indeed in any particular country, is not so great that it is
difficult, even without the aid of generic grouping, to determine the correct
specific name of any specimen; and this, of course, is the main object which
the student of tropical medicine has in view.
The attempt to ascertain the correct genus of an Anopheline is therefore
a task which the student of tropical medicine need not necessarily undertake,
and those who decide to neglect the generic grouping of the Anophelin will
be able to ascertain the correct specific name of any species which they may
find in India by the use of the following table.
TABLE OF THE INDIAN SPECIES OF ANOPHELIN.
I.-WINGS UNSPOTTED.
A.-PALPI UNBANDED.
A. aitkenii (James) .... A small dark mosquito. No flat scales
on head. Transverse veins of wings
not in one line.
S. culiciformis (James and Liston) . A rather large brown mosquito. A few
flat scales on the median area of the
head. Transverse wing veins in one
line.
B.-PALPI WITH WHITE BANDS.
A. immaculatus (Theobald).