88 HOUSEHOLD INSECTS 



always scouting the waters in search of food. It is always 

 found in large numbers in muddy pools, grassy ponds, and 

 weedy bayous. 



A species of fish that perhaps meets the requirements 

 most nearly with the possible exception of a wide distri- 

 bution is the top-minnow, Gambusia affinis (Fig. 31). 

 This minnow does not become more than one and one-half 

 to two inches in length. It is active and voracious and 

 feeds near the top, penetrating to the shallowest parts 



Fig. 31. — Top-minnow. (X H-) 



of the pool about the edges. Here it is safe from its 

 larger enemies and, at the same time, is in the presence of 

 desirable food. It constitutes a most admirable fish for 

 the destruction of mosquitoes in the Southern states. 

 It occurs from the Potomac River and southern Illinois 

 southward and west to Texas. Whether this minnow 

 can be acclimated in northern waters is not yet known. 



There are also two small species of sunfish, of the genus 

 Enneacantkus , that seem well suited for this purpose. 

 They are widely distributed, are active in pursuit of prey, 

 and live among water plants. 



In an admirable paper on " Fishes and their relation to 

 the mosquito problem," W. P. Seal sums up the whole 

 question as follows: "The writer has come to the con- 



