CHAPTER V 



LARV.E AND PUP.E 



THE larvae are found only in water, never in wet 

 grass, being anatomically fitted for an aquatic life 

 only. A great quantity of water is unnecessary, nor» 

 in many cases, need it be very clean. A canful will 

 sometimes be densely crowded with thriving larvae. 

 I have never found a larva that would live much 

 over an hour even on damp (not thoroughly soaked, 

 but merely damp) mud. An almost solid group of 

 larvae are sometimes found in a nearly dry pool, 

 retreating to the deepest part en masse. There is no 

 doubt that they will die if they become entirely 

 dried. I have tried this again and again with 

 pipiens, sollicitans, and calopus, which last I believe 

 to be as resistant as any species can possibly be, 

 unless it is a PsoropJwra. 



Nor, according to Dr. Dupree, is too much water 

 a good thing for the larvae, as most species, if 

 forcibly submerged, will drown in one or two hours 

 when full grown, and in four or five hours when very 

 young. It may be conjectured that the young ones 

 take longer to drown because their skin is thinner. 



Slow, mud-bottomed meadow streams with grassy 

 banks are apt to breed mosquitoes ; clear rock or 

 gravel-bottomed streams, inhabited by aquatic 



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