24 Mosquitoes 



Though the insects appear so frail they can evi- 

 dently survive a good deal of trouble. I have seen 

 one of Dr. Dupree's Culcx pipiens, which had but 

 three legs left, bite as hard as if she had a dozen ; 

 she afterward laid a batch of eggs, although for lack 

 of her hind legs she could not stick the raft together. 



Egg Laying. — It is a popular supposition that all 

 mosquitoes lay their eggs in the form of a raft. As a 

 matter of fact, Dr. Dupree found that only seven 

 species out of thirty-two formed boats, the rest all de- 

 positing their eggs singly. He has secured specimens 

 of the eggs of all the species occurring in the State of 

 Louisiana except one or two ; inducing the insects to 

 lay by dint of the most marvellous patience and skill. 

 Only a few eggs have ever been taken by others in 

 this or any other country, and he was the first to 

 have had figured the eggs of such a large number of 

 different species. Of the rest of the forms known in 

 this country, it is altogether probable, from general 

 larval and adult characters, that they lay single eggs. 

 Mr. Coquillett has restricted the genus Culex to some 

 of the raft layers, as these possess not only gen- 

 erically distinctive larvae but also adult characters 

 peculiar to themselves. Naturally, the difference 

 in the eggs would indicate an ovarian structure in 

 this genus somewhat different from that of the 

 single-egged genera. 



Dr. Dupree roughly divides the mosquitoes into 

 two groups: (i) those whose eggs are provided with 

 a special apparatus for flotation which so perfectly 

 accomplishes its purpose that these eggs cannot be 

 completely and permanently submerged by any 



