1901 



ENTOMOLOeiCAL SOCIETY. 



97 



these become filled, and it is ready to escape. If the wings should get wet during this delicate 

 operation on the unsteady raft, it is more than likely that the poor mosquito perishes. A quiet 

 body of water, therefore, is necessary for the safe emergence of mosquitoes in large 

 numbers. 



Male and Female Mosquitoes. The male mosquitoes are readily distinguished from the 

 female by the long-feathered antenna;. The males neither sing nor bite, and if they feed at all 

 it is on the juices and nectar of plants. It is quite probable that the normal food of these 

 insects is the juices of plants, but it is also quite certain that the females delight in the warm 

 blood of animals, including man. 



The fVinqs. Mosquitoes have but one pair of wings. The margins of the wings are 

 fringed with hairs, and the veins with minute scales. The buzz-sound of the mosquito is made 

 by the rapid vibration of the wings, about 3000 in a minute, and by the air passing over little 

 drums at the openings of the air tubes of the sides of the body. The hind wings are represented 

 by a pair of stalked knots, called " balancers." 



Fig. 55. — Anopheleg quadrimaculatus : Adult ; male at left, female at ii}j;ht— enlarged, 

 (From Howard, U. S. Department of Agriculture.) 



The Mouth Parts. These are to many persons the most interesting portion of the anatomy 

 5f the mosquito. The mouth-parts of the males are simpler than those of the female, and con- 

 sist of but three parts, the sucVing proboscis and the two palpi, one on either side of the 

 proboscis or sucking-tube. 



The females have a long slender upper lip, five slender lances, and a large proboscis with 

 two short palpi (F'g. 55), When a female mosquito alights on the skin, she pierces it with the 

 7 EN. 



