2 Mosquitoes 



greatly perplexed. But the Lord, seeing the trouble 

 of His servant, sent a mosquito, which bit Abner 

 violently on the leg, causing him to move the limb 

 in question. Then David went freely forth, ren- 

 dering praise to God who, by one of His weakest 

 creatures, had saved the life of His servant. 



Perhaps this is the only instance on record where 

 thankfulness existed for the presence of the insect 

 now regarded as an unmitigated pest and never 

 thought of as a saver of life. Indeed, many men, 

 both professional and amateur, in many lands, have 

 set themselves to study in what ways the mosquito 

 pest may best be brought under control and the 

 spread of deadly disease thus checked. 



To all who are studying the mosquito question 

 the first thing needful is to be able to distinguish 

 the different species; and to make this distinction 

 is equally necessary whether investigators are merely 

 studying for the love of the subject, or are partici- 

 pants in the mosquito war now so actively in pro- 

 gress in many parts of the country — indeed, all over 

 the world. In the case of being engaged in the ex- 

 termination of the insects, much of the worker's 

 success depends on his knowledge of the species 

 and of its habits. There is no use in going half 

 a mile to oil a puddly meadow for Anopheles when 

 the offender is Stegomyia calopus (formerly called 

 fasciatd) multiplying on the premises; nor in hunt- 

 ing vainly about the vicinity for possible breeding 

 places, when the pests have come from some distant 

 salt meadow. To name the specimen correctly, how- 

 ever, it is absolutely essential that the student shall 



