MOSQUITOES 



59 



the head up. It is as active as the larva when disturbed. 

 After the pupa has lived five or six days it, in turn, 

 transforms to the adult. The skin of the pupa splits 

 open along the top of the thorax and the adult mosquito 

 gradually works its way through the opening. Then, 

 using the empty skin as a raft, it rests for a few minutes 

 to dry its wings and then flies away. Ordinarily, the 

 female lives until she finds a suitable place to deposit 

 her eggs, which may take two or three weeks, during 

 which interval she may bite several times. 



Adult. — The full-grown Culex pipiens is a moderate- 

 sized mosquito. In Fig. 20, c, the adult female is shown 

 considerably enlarged. It is usually the female alone 

 that bites and annoys us. The male mosquito is well 

 behaved, and although he often enters the house, does 

 not annoy us. He usually lives by sucking the nectar 

 of flowers. We have seen him sipping the sirup from 

 a jug on the table. The male can easily be distinguished 

 from the female mos- 

 quito by the brushes 

 of hairs on the head. 

 The antennae or 

 "feelers" of the male 

 mosquito, as shown in 

 Fig. 23, are clothed 

 with many long bris- 

 tles, while the antennas 

 of the female have 

 fewer and much shorter 



hairs. The difference is almost as noticeable to the un- 

 aided eye as Fig. 23 shows it to be. These house mos- 

 quitoes do not usually fly far, but in seeking for food 



Fig. 23. 



Head of female, left ; male, 

 right. (X8.) 



