Rural School Leaflet 



1177 



Moreover, when they move they usually wriggle sidewise just under 



the surface of the water, although they may dive down toward the 



bottom. The wrigglers live about 



two weeks and then change to 



pupas, which resemble those of 



Culex. The full-grown mosquitoes 



soon appear, thus completing the 



life cycle in about three weeks. 



The Anopheles is not so much 



of a house mosquito as is the 



Culex. The Anopheles wrigglers 



breed farther from the house, along Fig. 3. — Resting positions of Culex (C) 

 ,, • . c u 1 1 and Anopheles (A) mosquitoes. Enlarged. 



the quiet margins of brooks, ponds, {Reduced from Howard) 



and pools, among the grass and 



sedges, and in other similar situations. The full-grown mosquito 

 evidently flies a considerable distance, for it seems to find its way easily 

 into our houses. It is thought, however, that the malarial mosquitoes 

 will not ordinarily fly more than five or six hundred yards. 



Differences between Culex and Anopheles mosquitoes. — It is only the 

 female mosquitoes that bite. The male mosquitoes are harmless. They 

 may be known by the hairy appendages borne on the head; the female 

 mosquito does not have these long hairs on the head (Fig. 1 , c) . 



The female Culex has one long, straight projection from the head, the 

 beak; while the female Anopheles has three straight projections from the 

 head, the middle one of which is the beak. The wings of the female 

 Anopheles are mottled with dark spots, whereas the wings of Culex are 

 plain and clear. When Culex rests on the wall the body is held parallel 

 with the surface, but Anopheles usually rests with the hind end of the 

 body tipped up at an angle to the surface. (Fig. 3.) 



There is also the difference between the wrigglers of Culex and Anopheles 

 which has already been pointed out, namely, the difference in position 

 which the wrigglers of these two mosquitoes occupy in the water. 



The yellow fever mosquito. — The mosquito that carries yellow fever 

 is found only in the warmer countries of the earth. In the United States 

 it occurs in the Southern States at least as far north as Virginia. In 

 past years there have been epidemics of yellow fever in New York 

 City and in Philadelphia, and it would therefore seem that this mosquito 

 must have occurred as far north as New York. 



The yellow fever mosquito is really very pretty. The legs, thorax, 

 and abdomen are banded with conspicuous silver stripes. The wrigglers 

 are found about houses in rain barrels, tanks, and the like. 



The beak and the bite of a mosquito. — All mosquitoes are sucking insects. 

 Each one has a long proboscis, or beak, projecting from the front of the 



