4§ Mosquitoes 



The belief from the time Dr. Howard's book was 

 published until about 1902 was, that only rarely and 

 under peculiar circumstances, did the adults fly to 

 any considerable distance from the place where they 

 attained maturity. The consequence was, especially 

 in New Jersey, that a sort of every-community-for- 

 itself sentiment prevailed in regard to the problems 

 of extermination. The apparent uselessness of these 

 attempts in many cases produced great merriment 

 among the sceptics. The magnificent series of ex- 

 periments and investigations conducted by Dr. 

 Smith and his assistants, however, established con- 

 clusively the fact that the mosquitoes, in these cases, 

 were not a home product, and although the majority 

 of species breed within six hundred yards of where 

 they are found, yet the three salt-marsh species, O. 

 sollicitans, O. caiitator, and Q. tceniorhyncJins, have a 

 well-established migratory habit. These adults, day 

 by day, were traced from the marsh, advancing until 

 they were found miles inland, "infernal nuisances, 

 where locals were almost entirely absent." To quote 

 Dr. Smith : 



" The observations made during the early season of 

 1904, with fuller knowledge of the factors, were equally 

 conclusive. The development of the broods on the 

 Newark and Raritan marshes was watched almost from 

 day to day. Before the larva? matured, careful search 

 was made for several miles back and along the first 

 ridge of the Orange Mountains to make certain of what 

 was developing there. The appearance of the adults 

 was noted on the meadows before a single specimen was 

 seen in Newark. They were watched for a day or two 



