22 GNATS OR MOSQUITOES — CHAPTER U 



the Mosquito can be driven through it into the bottle 

 without injury. Once inside the insect is very unHkely to 

 find its way out, and the great advantage of the appliance 

 is that a large number of insects may be captured in it 

 without risk of the earlier takes escaping, but one would 

 have to get the funnel specially made. 



Fig. G. — FicALBi's Trap Bottle, J natural size. 



The insects can be killed by dropping through the funnel 

 a scrap of blotting paper saturated with dilute hydrocyanic 

 acid, and then covering its mouth with a piece of glass. 



(6) By means of a net. — Bend 2 yards of stout iron wire 

 so as to form a ring 9 in. in diameter, with a handle about 2 

 ft. long, formed of the two ends twisted together. The net 

 is a bag 2 ft. deep, secured to the ring, and should be made 

 of fine silk gauze (chiffon) ; and a strip of cloth should be 

 wound round the twisted wire of the handle to afford a 

 more comfortable grip. 



(c) By breeding out from larvfE and pupa^. — The larva? 

 are found in pools, and in domestic collections of water, and 

 when undisturbed generally remain at the surface. 



Place a score or so of full-grown larva^ and pupa^, in the 

 water in which they have lived, in a tumbler, and tie over 

 it a covering of gauze supported on a twig or piece of wire 

 bent into an arch. 



In the course of a few days the adult insects will escape 

 from the pupa3 and be found in the gauze. They should 

 not be killed for a day or two, and it is better to introduce 

 a slice of banana into the net so as to enable them to feed, 

 and so fill out to their full size. 



When a sufficient number of specimens have appeared 



