176 SOME SOUTH INDIAN INSECTS. ETC. [CHAP. MX. 



near the bungalow. All wells in the compound should be screened 

 over and fitted with a pump, and the mail's water-tanks should be 

 oiled at least weekly. All old tins, jars, bottles, coconut husks or 

 similar articles which may hold water and breed mosquitos should 

 be rigorously cleared away and all holes in trees, cut bamboo- 

 stumps, etc., should be filled in with plaster or mud. Leaves of 

 :\\c\ similar plants often hold water in wet weather and 

 breed mosquitos ; a small drainage-hole cut in the leaf will usually 

 suffice to prevent this. The saucers beneath flower-pots and water- 

 coolers, the water-dishes beneath legs of tables and meat-safes, 

 and the earthen water-jars on which ferns are often grown, will 

 all be found to be frequent breeding places for mosquitos, which 

 will breed freely in the smallest collection of water. Flower-vases 

 which are not properly emptied and cleaned before refilling are 

 often full of " wrigglers " which are the early stages of mosquitos. 



