Teacher's Leaflet. II31 



(9.) Which sex of the mosquito does the biting and the singing? 

 (10.) How is the singing done? 



Facts for Teachers. — The male mosquitoes have bushy or feathery antennae. 

 These antennae are hearing organs of very remarkable construction (see Ways 

 of the Six-footed, p. 8). The Anopheles may be distinguished from the Culex 

 by the following characteristics: Its wings are spotted instead of plain. When 

 at rest it is perfectly straight and is likely to have the hind legs in the air It 

 may also rest at an angle to the surface to which it clings. The Culex is not spotted 

 on the wings and is likely to be humped up when at rest. In our climate the 

 Anopheles is more dangerous than the Culex because it carries the germs of malaria. 

 A mosquito's wing under a miscroscope is a most beautiful object as it is 

 "trimmed" with ornamental scales about the edges and along the veins. The male 

 mosquitoes neither sing nor bite ; the song of the female mosquito is supposed to be 

 made by the rapid vibration of the wings, and her musical performances are for 

 the purpose of attracting her mate, as it has been shown that he can hear through 

 his antennae a range of notes covering the middle and next higher octaves of the 

 piano. 



Lesson XII 



HOW TO GET RID OF MOSQUITOES 



Purpose. — To teach pupils how dangerous are mosquftoes to our 

 health and to get them interested in ridding the locahty of this pest. 



The teacher should either read to the pupils or let them read Farmers' 

 Bulletin No. 155, Department of Agriculture, on "How Insects Affect 

 the Health in Rural Districts." In brief the facts are as follows : 

 In the north our greatest danger is from the mosquitoes which carry 

 the malarial germs, and these are the mosquitoes with spotted 

 wings and belong to the genus Anopheles. This mosquito in order to 

 be of danger to us must first feed upon the blood of a person suf- 

 fering from malaria (ague) and thus takes the germ of the disease into 

 its stomach. Here the germ develops and multiplies into many minute 

 germs, which pass through another stage and finally get into the blood 

 of the mosquito and accumulate in the salivary glands. The reason 

 any mosquito bite or insect bite swells and itches is because at the 

 insect's beak is inserted into the fiesh it carries with it some of the 

 saliva from the insect's mouth. In the case of Anopheles these malarial 

 germs are carried with the saliva into the blood of the victim. It has 

 been proved that in most malarial countries, as 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 whether there are any mosquito larvae in rain barrels, ponds 

 or pools of stagnant water. If found, suggest the following remedies : 



