40 Mosquitoes 



met with in almost incredible numbers. Dr. Dall 

 tells a story which proves that in that region, at least, 

 they are not an unmitigated curse, despite their 

 abundance and fierce appetites. It seems that, in the 

 river districts of Alaska, when the ice breaks up and 

 melts in the spring, the hunting of game over the 

 soggy ground and through the melting snow is 

 impossible, while the ice-cakes in the flooded rivers 

 effectually prohibit any fishing. At about this time 

 the stock of food laid in for the winter by the Indians 

 has run low, and matters would sometimes be rather 

 serious for the tribes did not the mosquitoes fly to the 

 rescue. At this season these insects appear in count- 

 less hordes, clouds upon clouds, all ravenous for their 

 first spring meal. Falling upon the deer and even 

 the bears, they so torment the poor animals that 

 they rush to the rivers to rid themselves of the blood- 

 thirsty enemy ; thus falling an easy prey to the 

 watching Indians. At times the eyes of the bears, 

 which are by far the easiest points of attack for the 

 mosquitoes, are so swollen that bruin can no longer 

 see, and thus starves or is captured by some hungry 

 hunter, four-footed or otherwise. 



How Long Do Mosquitoes Live ? — With our 

 present knowledge, the answer to this question must 

 needs be " Indefinite." For we know that adults of 

 some species live all winter and a part of the preced- 

 ing fall and succeeding spring. We know that the 

 Anopheles must live long enough to digest at least 

 two feeds of blood, the malaria-receiving and the dis- 

 tributing meal; and that the development of the 

 Plasmodium must take place between these two 



