MOSQUITOES. 187 



possessed certain properties. The water had to be rain- 

 water full of animal or vegetable matter, and had to be lo- 

 cated in a depression so that the wind could not disturb its 

 surface very greatly. Ponds were also utilized, providing 

 plenty of grass and other plants formed an obstruction 

 to retard or prevent the waves from disturbing the 

 surface in too violent a manner. In the middle or in the 

 deeper part of ponds but few larvee or pupae of mosquitoes 

 could be found. With the arrival of warmer weather those 

 mosquitoes, that had found a shelter in which to hibernate, 

 also started into renewed activity, and they also com- 

 menced to multiply in a very rapid manner. 



After a short season of love the female mosquito depos- 

 ited her eggs upon the surface of the w^ater, and selected for 

 this purpose almost invariably the very early morning, so 

 that it was somewhat troublesome to watch this operation, 

 especially, as all other female mosquitoes not engaged in 

 such work would try their very best to drive away the in- 

 truder. They did this not in a very ladjdike manner and 

 their remarks about the intruder were of a most biting 

 character! Of course the gentlemanly male did not engage 

 in biting, simply because he can not do so, lacking the neces- 

 sary organs for that purpose. Selecting a floating object or 

 a quiet spot where the water is not greatly disturbed, the 

 female deposits a large number of eggs in the shape of a 

 raft. In doing so the female supports her body upon the 

 four front legs, while her two hind legs are crossed, as seen 

 in the illustration (153 c/). In this angle thus formed by 

 the hind legs, the eggs are formed into a sort of raft as they 

 pass one by one from the abdomen, and being sticky they 

 adhere to each other. These small egg-masses look like a 

 bit of floating soot, and if investigated more closely it will 

 be found that each contains on an average over 300 eggs, 

 and that each egg is a very elongated affair, resembling an 

 old-styled flask with a stopper. Such egg-masses, which 

 must float upon the surface of the water to obtain the 

 necessary air and warmth, will always float in the proper 

 position, no matter how violently we may stir the water. 

 To enable them to do so a film of air surrounds the eggs, 



