56 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 52 



joints make ideal breeding places for the mosquitoes, and a large 

 majority of the species, which have been attracted to you during this 

 work, are induced to lay their eggs in these traps. The larva? can 

 be easily secured by a suction bulb or b}- turning the contents of the 

 joints into a white enameled plate. Numerous larvse of Johlotia, 

 Carrollia, Acdcs, SabcfJics, Hcriuagogiis, and the bamboo McgarJiiiius 

 were obtained in this way, which otherwise could not have been found 

 at all or only by hard work, in small numbers. 



In the small pools in the woods and in the water-filled old French 

 machinery, various Culex and Anopheles species were found, the 

 former commonly preyed upon by the larv?e of Lntda bigottii. 



On the other side of Tabernilla the country is higher and hilly, 

 partly cultivated and sprinkled with small native settlements. In the 

 still pools of small sluggish streams between the hills, good collecting 

 grounds are found, which yielded several Culex, Uranotcenia, and 

 Anopheles larv?e. The trees in and around the villages, covered as 

 they are by water-bearing epiphytic plants, furnish a rich fauna of 

 mosquitoes, especially species of JJ\'eoiiiyia, Phoniouiyia, and 

 Megarhinus. The best way to secure the larvae in these plants is to 

 carefuly cut the plant off with a machete and turn it over and wash 

 it out into a bucket half filled with water. In the case of the tall 

 trees in the lowlands, the whole tree was felled in order to secure the 

 epiphytic plants and their mosquito population. The corners of the 

 leaves of the Spanish bayonet and other similar leaves holding water 

 aft'ord breeding places for several species of mosquitoes. The sharp 

 spines on the leaves of these plants make it difiicult to reach the 

 mosquito larvae. The best results in obtaining these are secured by 

 cutting all the leaves oft" close to the stem, cutting the plant off near 

 the ground, and turning the contents out into a bucket. 



On excursions to more remote localities, where a bucket can not 

 well be carried along, one must depend upon a suction bulb with a 

 long glass tube with which to suck up the larvae from these and other 

 similar ])lants : but the small amount of water found in most of these 

 plants makes it difficult to use the rubber bulb, and it is advisable to 

 carry a bottle of water along from which to replenish the leaf corners 

 and thus enable re])eated suctions. The suction bulb is indispensable 

 in many other cases, as with tree-holes too narrow to admit a dipper. 



Once secured, the mosquito larvae should be taken home as soon 

 and with as little shaking as possible, each lot in a separate bottle. 

 In the laboratory each lot is given a serial number referring to the 

 notes on their habitat ; the larvae are placed singly in breeding tubes 

 with cotton stoppers. Each larva receives a separate isolation num- 



