60 Mosquitoes 



ascertained validity but less than one-third their 

 size. They were promptly seized in turn. Inci- 

 dentally it may be mentioned that two of the four 

 females escaped the following morning, the male 

 died the seventh day after being caged, and the two 

 remaining females deposited, the one four, the other 

 five batches of fertile eggs, having fed upon blood 

 every two days. These observations establish the 

 fact that a single fertilisation suffices for at least five 

 batches of eggs. Such gastronomic and reproduc- 

 tive powers are noteworthy, especially in view of the 

 fact that Col. Giles, a recognised authority, review- 

 ing Celli's statement that adult Anopheles will bite 

 every two days and ovulate several times, says that 

 "generally they take some four days to renew their 

 appetites after a full feed, and the laying of a couple 

 of batches of eggs is about the limit of the repro- 

 ductive capability of the most of them." 



Professor Boyer, of Tulane University, in recording 

 experiments with eighteen Anopheles and two Stego- 

 myia, states that an Anopheles capped the climax by 

 not only living nearly fifteen days, but also by lay- 

 ing a second batch of eggs on the seventh day after 

 her first oviposition. 



Dr. Goeldi notes that the males of S. calopus, al- 

 though they may congregate in small groups of from 

 fifteen to twenty over some article of furniture, while 

 the females are hovering about the room, do not 

 form large swarms. The sexes tend to separate into 

 distinct groups, the males going up higher in the 

 bed net than the females and chasing any of the latter 

 which come near. The mating is brief, the male 



