MOSQUITO FAUNA OF PANAMA BUSCK 65 



Genus STEGOMYIA Theobald 

 STEOGOMYIA CALOPUS Meigen 



The scarcity of this, the yellow-fever mosquito, on the Canal Zone 

 illustrates better than any other example the efficiency of the mos- 

 quito-work done by the Sanitary Department. To a person who has 

 traveled in other parts of the tropics and who has experienced the 

 noxious abundance of Stegomyia everywhere — in the best hotels as 

 well as in the humblest negro hut — it is indeed gratifying to be able 

 to live for weeks in the Canal Zone without encountering a single 

 Stegomyia. 



The yellow-fever mosquito is a strictly domestic animal, which is 

 never found outside of man's immediate environment, and which only 

 breeds in artificial receptacles, such as barrels, water-coolers, bottles, 

 tin cans, etc., in and around human habitations. Due to these cir- 

 cumscribed habits, its control is comparatively easy, and it would be 

 quite possible, with slight augmentation in the well-organized force 

 of sanitary inspectors, to absolutely eliminate this dangerous mos- 

 quito from the Zone. The suggestion of such a radical attempt was 

 enthusiastically received by the chiefs of the department, and their 

 efforts will undoubtedly produce conditions within another year 

 under which it can confidently be asserted that a yellow-fever epi- 

 demic on the Canal Zone is impossible, due to the total absence of 

 the fever-carrying agent. 



The two coast cities, Panama and Colon, the sanitation of which 

 is as yet only nominally under American control, constitute the only 

 really difficult localities to treat. The constant danger of infection 

 through these cities should be sufficient reason for an arrangement 

 under w'hich the Sanitary Department of the Canal Zone should be 

 given full power and responsibility in them. 



The larvse of Sfcgoiuyia was met with in barrels and tin cans in 

 native villages near Pedro Aliguel and Tabernilla ; in a barrel with 

 rain-water in Bas Obispo ; in a barrel in a house in San Pablo ; in 

 water-holders in a private house in Panama ; in several receptacles in 

 a large hotel in Colon ; in the bottom of an old boat, and in barrels 

 oij Taboga Island. 



The adults were also taken in small numbers at La Boca, Panama, 

 Las Cascadas, Culebra, Bohio, and occasionally on the passenger 

 trains across the Isthmus. In Colon they were found in large num- 

 bers in several places, notably in one of the largest hotels. 



