36 Mosquitoes 



Curiously enough, different species sometimes appear 

 to have preferences. O. triseriatus would not bite 

 Dr. Dupree without the greatest coaxing, but set 

 to work on me at once ; another, I forget which, 

 he used to laugh about as having a great distaste 

 for me and being ready to eat him up. Possibly 

 the acidity of the perspiration makes a difference. 

 The effect of the bite of some species is much more 

 painful than that of others, this also, however, vary- 

 ing more or less with the individual person. The 

 results of the poisoning are, at times, extremely 

 painful. This may be judged by the following, 

 related by Dr. Christy, that in Parana he was bitten 

 by clouds of small, brown mosquitoes from a tall 

 umbelliferous plant. They 



"made a gory mess of hands and face. Their bite 

 seemed to cause very little pain or inconvenience at the 

 time ; twelve hours afterward, however, I was in bed 

 with a temperature of 102 , vowing vengeance on all 

 mosquitoes, with my eyes closed by cedematous eyelids 

 and with my lips, fingers, and ears double their normal 

 size. A splitting headache and attacks of vomiting com- 

 pleted my discomfort. But no malaria followed. Before 

 leaving the country I saw other cases of similar acute 

 poisoning from mosquito bites, but without the accom- 

 paniment of malarial fever." 



The author does not feel the bite of AnopJielcs 

 either at the time of puncture or afterward. O. sol- 

 licitans, although its bite pricks like a pin, leaves no 

 irritation even when disturbed. J. posticata bites 

 hard and causes a furious itching, while C. rest nans 

 and C. pipiens are hardly noticeable when piercing, 



