112 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



hardly be necessary to do even this in New York, since the yellow 

 fever mosquito, Stegomyia, does not occur in this latitude; still 

 some precaution is advisable. The slight difference between an 

 abundance of mosquitos with suffering and none with health and 

 comfort is strikingly exemplified in the case of Sea Cliff, L. I., with 

 its elevation of about lOO feet. Owing to the character of the 

 soil there are no favorable near-by breeding places for malarial 

 mosquitos, though attractive springs and pools occur within a 

 quarter of a mile and near by are extensive salt marshes' producing 

 millions of mosquitos, yet the village of Sea Cliff is exempt from 

 malaria and never troubled by mosquitos. The former is due to 

 the absence of favorable breeding places within a few hundred 

 yards, and the latter to its comparatively slight elevation. Mos- 

 quito control is practical provided the habits of the insects are 

 understood and the troublesome forms recognized. Breeding areas 

 are really very limited and in many cases they can be drained with 

 comparatively slight expense. The salt marsh mosquito, extremely 

 annoying along the coast, does not breed throughout the marshes 

 but is confined to a portion along the upland and extending out a 

 distance of 150 to 250 feet, or in other words limited to parts 

 flooded by high tides and not reached by ordinary ones. This strip 

 contains brackish pools in which the wrigglers mature and escape 

 between high tides or severe storms. None occur in pools con- 

 taining fish or in association with fiddler crabs. The breeding of 

 this and associated species may be prevented by draining these 

 areas so that no pools will be left from one high tide to another. 

 The state of New Jersey has done much to encourage antimosquito 

 work, which has been ably seconded by local efforts in the Oranges 

 and other communities in that state. 



A most striking illustration of the efficacy of this work is that 

 given by Lawrence, L. I., which has amply demonstrated the feasi- 

 bility of controlling the salt marsh mosquitos by relatively simple 

 and comparatively inexpensive ditching operations. The annual 

 expense is only about $1000 and the total expenditure on these 

 operations during the past four years does not exceed $10,000, in 

 spite of the fact that the village is situated upon a narrow neck of 

 land with the extensive salt marsh areas of Jamaica bay to the 

 north and west and large marshes south and east, all producing 

 in former days millions of mosquitos which invaded the village in 

 swarms with every favorable breeze. Some of these marshes 

 extend almost to the center of the village, which is so completely 



