13 



tive fluid is necessary for the formation of the eggs, but this supposi- 

 tion is at once emphatically negatived b}' the fact that mosquitoes 

 abound in regions into which warm-blooded animals never penetrate. 

 The statement which the writer has elsewhere made, that not one in a 

 million ever gets the opportunity to taste the blood of a warm-blooded 

 animal, is unquestionably an underestimate. There are in this country 

 enormous tracts of marshy land into which warm-blooded animals 

 never find their way and in which mosquitoes are breeding in count- 

 less numbers, and when we get within the Arctic Circle and other 

 uninhabited regions the point is emphasized. Scattered through the 

 seven volumes of Insect Life are records of the observation of the 

 vegetarian habit, one writer stating that he has seen mosquitoes with 

 their beaks inserted in boiled potatoes and another that he has seen 

 watermelon rinds with man}- mosquitoes settled upon them busily 

 engaged in sucking the juice. That they may and occasionally do 

 feed upon other than warm-blooded animals, however, is evidenced 

 by an observation ])y the late Dr. H. A. Hagen, who mentions taking 

 a species of mosquito in the Northwest which was engaged in feeding 

 upon the chrysalis of a l)utterfly, while thtnn^ are several instances on 

 record where they have been observed puncturing the heads of young 

 fish and killing them. 



Tloinfar '}niU mosqtiHocx j^l/f — The question is often asked: "How 

 far will mosquitoes fly from their breeding places, or how far can they 

 be driven by the wind ? '' In some instances this becomes a matter of 

 practical importance, since, if mosquitoes fly great distances, extermi- 

 native work on the breeding places near a house or community will be 

 of comparatively slight avail. There exists on this point a difierence 

 of opinion. In a discussion at the meeting of the Association of Eco- 

 nomic Entomologists at Boston, in August, 18!i8, Dr. John B. Smith 

 stated, in referring to the possibility of mosquitoes being carried hj 

 strong winds to consideral)le distances, that he had noticed that they 

 would not rise or take flight when a brisk breeze was blowing, and 

 that even a comparatively slight breeze will keep them from upper 

 stories in houses. He, therefore, doubted the wide distribution of 

 mosquitoes by high winds. Dr. H. T. Fernald stated that at Cold 

 Spring Harbor, Long Island, with a north breeze there are no mos- 

 quitoes. With a south breeze, on the other hand, they are often very 

 troublesome, especially after a prolonged gentle wind of five or more 

 hours' duration. There are no pools in the center of the island, and 

 the mosquitoes are supposed to have been carried from the south shore, 

 a distance of some 15 miles. This question became a very practical 

 one to the members of the Richmond County Country Club on Staten 

 Island, in their operations against the breeding places of mosquitoes 

 on the island, since, if a new supply could be carried over^bythe 

 winds from the New Jersey coast near by, a large portion of their 



