Insect Study 403 



malarial countries, like Italy and India, people are entirely free from 

 malaria if they are not bitten by mosquitoes. 



After this explanation has been made, it would be well for the teacher 

 to take the pupils on a tour of inspection through the neighborhood to see 

 if there are any mosquito larvae in rain barrels, ponds or pools of stagnant 

 water. If such places are found, let the pupils themselves apply the 

 following remedies : 



1 . Rain barrels should be securely covered. 



2. All stagnant pools should be drained and filled up if possible. 



3. Wherever there are ponds or pools where mosquitoes breed that 

 cannot be filled or drained, the surface of the water should be covered 

 with a spray of kerosene oil. This may be applied with a spray pump or 

 from a watering can. 



4. If it is impracticable to cover such places with oil, introduce into 

 such pools the following fish : Minnows, sticklebacks, sunfish and gold- 

 fish. 



The effect of this lesson upon the children should be to impress them 

 with the danger to life and health from mosquitoes and to implant in them 

 a determination to rid the premises about their homes of these pests. 



References Farmers' Bulletin No. 155, U. S. Department of Agricul- 

 ture, by L. O. Howard; leaflet in Reading Course for Farmers' Wives, 

 series 2, No. 10, by M. V. Slingerland; American Insects, Kellogg; The 

 Insect Book, Howard; Insect Life, The Manual for the Study of Insects, 

 Comstock; Ways of the Six-Footed, Comstock. 



Wing of mosquito enlarged. 

 Comstock's Manual. 



LESSON XC 

 THE MOSQUITO 



Leading thought The wrigglers, or wigglers, which we find in rain- 

 barrels and stagnant water are the larvae of mosquitoes. We should 

 study their life history carefully if we would know how to get rid^of 

 mosquitoes. 



Method There is no better way to interest the pupils in mosquitoes 

 than to place in an aquarium jar in the schoolroom a family of wrigglers 

 from some pond or rain barrel. For the pupils' personal observation, take 

 some of the wrigglers from the aquarium with a pipette and place them in 

 a homeopathic vial; fill the vial three-fourths full of water and cork it. 

 Pass it around with a hand lens and give each pupil the opportunity to 

 observe it for five or ten minutes. It would be well if this vial could be 

 left on each desk for an hour or so during study periods, so that the 



