A NEW ANOPHELINE LARVA IN NETHERLANDS NEW GUINEA: ANOPHELES (MYZOMYIA) CRISTATUS? by

A batch of anopheline larvae were caught in January, 1952, near the beach of Base G in the vicinity of Hollandia harbour. Included in the batch were two larvae which differed so greatly from those known in Netherlands New Guinea, that I believed them to belong to a species I had seen in Indonesia, viz., A. (M) leucosphyrus yaK. hackeri; this type had never been found in Netherlands New Guinea. What brought this species to mind was a report of the government doctor, v^•q St,oo'rE•, that in December, 1951, during an investigation in the settlement region of Ransiki (near Manokwari) he had found some larvae which he identified as A. (M) leucosphyrus vat. hackcri. Unfortunately these larvae were not preserved and I was unable to examine them. At my request both Ransiki and Base G were thoroughly searched for this species of larvae, particularly in the hope of recovering the adult stage of the mosquito, either directly or by isolated breeding of the larvae. However, we failed to secure either; this was a pity as examination of the imago would have thrown light on the presence of one or more types of the Leucosph)v'us species, of which there are at present six or seven known in different countries of South-East Asia (from India in the West to Indonesia and the Philippines in the East). The eastern boundary of the region i.n which the various types of the Leucosphyrus species occur are the islands of Buton, Celebes, Sangihe and Talaud in Indonesia and Mindanao in the Philippines. Immediately east of Celebes the region of the Australasian anopheline fauna begins; however, in the Moluccas (the western part of the Australasian region) several anophelines of the South-East Asiatic fauna have penetrated and some of these have come as far west as Netherlands New Guinea. Still, L}•E & Woorm•I•t, are of the opinion--and I think rightly so--that Sw[[[}•aa}•[i • & Rom•w^t,rrr (1932) are mistaken when they say they found A. aitkenii, A. barbirostris, A. karwari, A. philipp#•ensis and A. tesselatu