FIGHTING INSECT PESTS 189 



any room or house can be kept free from flies, or nearly so, 

 by screens; but neighborhood and community effort toward 

 abolishing the breeding places is by far the most effective 

 means of righting the deadly housefly. 



To fight mosquitoes the same advice applies; destroy the 

 breeding places. Mosquitoes breed in puddles and ponds; 



FIG. 94. Eggs, larvae and pupae of mosquitoes. Theobaldia incident. 

 (Photograph by R. W. Doane.) 



in open barrels and tins of water; in marshes and lily-ponds; 

 in fresh or slightly salt water anywhere that is not flowing. 

 Mosquitoes mostly do not fly far; if the pests are abundant 

 in or about a house look for a near-by breeding place. If 

 this is a small puddle or pond that cannot be readily drained 

 pour kerosene on its surface. The oil will spread out forming 

 a thin coating over the water that will prove fatal to winged 

 mosquitoes coming to lay their eggs, and to larvae (wrigglers) 

 coming up to the surface to breathe, as well as to the pupae 



