130 OBSERVATIONS ON THK LIFE HISTORY, ETC. 



cannot say, for in trying to move her from the vessel into a 

 larger one, she managed to escape. Thus she was my guest for 

 three weeks, and that disposes of the idea that they only live 

 one day. I have often kept them for a month, and I under- 

 stand that Dr. J. Bancroft has succeeded in keeping some 

 species alive for MO and even 90 days. Mv impression is that 

 their natural term of life is about three months. A good many 

 born in the autunm live right through the winter until the next 

 spring. They remain in a dormant state under houses, and 

 the rafters of houses, in dark places, and, as a proof that they 

 are not all dead, if an unusually warm and close day comes in 

 winter, they soon come out to give you very practical evidence 

 of their vitality. 



In conclusion, I may say a word as to the best means of 

 getting rid of them. They cannot be propagated unless water 

 is to be had whereon to deposit their eggs and breed their 

 young. You ought not to allow any water to lie around 

 your houses. Unused tubs and buckets should be turned 

 upside down. Two inches of water is all that Mrs. Mosquito 

 requires for family purposes. Then your tanks should be well 

 covered and the outlet-pipes covered with caps of perforated 

 zinc. If this is not done, and the lady can find no other 

 place, she will pass up the outlet-pipes, and deposit her eggs 

 in the tank, and as she lays from two to three hundred, in a 

 short time you will be surrounded with a respectable family. 

 In a pond where they breed a few minnows will annihilate 

 them, or the application of a little kerosene will also work 

 wonders. 



Finding a pool containing large quantities of both In mi and 

 I'liiKi, I poured a little oil on the surface and it spread in a thin 

 film all over. When the young gents arose to breathe, a dose of 

 oil went down both breathing tubes and trumpets, and in an 

 hour, when I visited it, not a living one was to be seen. 



As a last injunction : avoid living on low ground, and in 

 the neighbourhood of swamps. If possible, pitch your house 

 on high ground, facing the prevailing winds of the colony. 

 Mosquitoes are so light, that they cannot face a strong breeze. 

 They must go with the current and will be born past you to find 

 shelter in the bush, or on lower ground. 



