Notes on the Commoner Species 143 



bite her, and saw that the feeding posture was 

 exactly like that assumed on a wall — the insect 

 " stood on its head." 



Anopheles evidently prefers houses to out-of-doors. 

 Mr. Berkeley states that he has captured it in the 

 open air in the latitude of New 

 York only once in two years. 

 However, the writer has caught 

 pnnctipetinis in the open in the 

 lower part of the city of Ithaca 

 near the marsh, and also along the 

 Erie Canal, near Cohoes. 



, T ,. , , . r a j F IG - 2 9- — Labial 



With the exception ot A. oar- , . , . ., , 



r plate of Anopheles 



beri, which breeds in tree holes, pumtipennis larva 



is not known to Carry ma- (greatly enlarged). 



laria, and has not spotted 

 wings like the others, the Anopheles multiply 

 anywhere, in any water, even on salt marshes. The 

 larvae seem to like filthy water. Their colour, which 

 varies much with age, food, and amount of light, and 

 their habit of floating flat to the surface film, make 

 them resemble bits of debris, rendering them in- 

 conspicuous. As from their manner of drifting the 

 merest film of water gives them enough room, they 

 find safe refuge in the film over lilypads and leaves 

 and among the grass stems, grassy pools being al- 

 most invariably inhabited by the pernicious mites. 



The larvae have the odd habit of twisting the head 

 around so that the under side of the head is upward, 

 and they can skim the floating particles from the sur- 

 face. It requires a distinct effort on their part to 

 jerk away from the surface film, so well are they 



