3 

 THE NEW JERSEY MOSQUITO FAUNA 



COUNTING TWO SPECIES of CoretTirtt, Dr. Smith lists thirty-seven 

 species of mosquitoes in his Report in 1904< (23). In his "Insects 

 of New Jersey" (27), Dr. Smith lists forty species for the state, not in- 

 cluding any members of the genus Corethra. In New Jersey Experiment 

 Station Bulletin 348 (10) the writer listed a total of thirty-nine species, 

 of which two were considered as aberrant forms of other species, or 

 actually a total of thirty-seven species. In this book the writer in- 

 cludes descriptions of thirty-seven reasonably distinct species of the 

 family Cidicidae. 



It is important to know not only what species occur in the state but 

 the numbers representing each species and their geographical and sea- 

 sonal distribution. Owing to the limitations of hand collections, how- 

 ever, it was not until recently that a sufficient number of mosquitoes 

 had been collected to give an adequate idea of numbers and distribution. 



By 1932 a mechanical trap or gauge had been developed which col- 

 lected enough mosquitoes to serve this purpose. In 1932 this trap con- 

 sisted of a nine-inch diameter tube of galvanized steel, thirty inches 

 long. In the front end was fitted a small electric motor carrying an 

 eight-inch fan. Over the front end of the tube was placed a quarter- 

 inch hail screen cap to keep out large insects. Within the tube and back 

 of the fan was placed an eccentric cone of wire mosquito net. The open 

 end of this cone just nicely fitted into the inside of the tube. When in 

 position the cone lay with the straight side along the barrel of the 

 trap, and the diagonal side crossed the tube to the straight side. The 

 tip of the cone was pierced by a half inch hole which led directly into a 

 pint fruit jar, which was screwed into a cap soldered to the outside of 

 the trap. The whole trap was mounted horizontally on a ball-bearing 

 turn table, and a metal fin, located along the upper face of the barrel, 

 served to keep the front of the trap facing the wind. 



By clock work this trap was thrown into operation in the evening 



and out of operation in the morning. When in operation the mosquitoes 



were attracted by the twenty-five-watt frosted white light bulb. When 



30 



