REPORT ON MOSQUITOES. 3 



forced the conclusion that the State was dominated by three 

 species and that two of these spread from Hmited breeding areas. 



It was found that because a species of mosquito was very 

 numerous at a given point, it did not follow that it bred any- 

 where in the vicinity. During 1902 soUicitans was the dominant 

 m6squito at New Brunswick. My garden was full of them, and 

 there was no remaining- among the shrubs and bushes when the 

 sun began to sink. Nevertheless I could get no larvae of the 

 species. I prepared pails in all sorts of w^ays and even added 

 sea-salt to some of the water to induce oviposition ; but all that 

 I succeeded in getting were pipiens, restuans and Anopheles; 

 never once a soUicitans. Nor was I more successful in my 

 search elsewhere. Full of the conviction that mosquitoes must 

 breed near where they were found, I hunted every pool near by 

 and along the shores of the Raritan river. I found several 

 species besides those already enumerated, but never a soUicitans ; 

 and this of course raised the question, where do thej^ come from ? 

 That anything- like a real migration occurred was not then 

 believed; but it started the investigation that demonstrated it. 



Before the season of 1902 was at an end I felt certain that 

 while the old teaching that mosquitoes do not fly far from the 

 point where they breed was applicable to a few^ species, others 

 were capable of extended migrations. I felt sure of this point 

 concerning soUicitans in 1902, but in 1903 I found that another 

 species must be added to the list — one that had been confused 

 with another and was not recognized as distinct until we bred it 

 on the marshes and followed it inland. Mr. Coquillett named it 

 Culex cantator. The summer of 1903 and the early part of 1904 

 were largely devoted to locating the breeding places of these 

 migratory forms and to watching their gradual dispersion into 

 the surrounding country. It was conclusively proved that the 

 mosquito problem was not a local one over two-thirds of our 

 State. 



A few communities had started a mosquito campaign on the 

 accepted plan ; oiling ponds and pools, covering water barrels, 

 filling- depressions, etc., and with excellent results so far as the 

 elimination of local breeding areas was concerned ; but the work 

 was discredited when from time to time great swarms of mos- 

 quitoes made their appearance "worse than anything before 

 known." The importance of determining the insects actually at 

 fault was not realized and in consequence many an innocent pond 

 was oiled or drained in the belief that it might possibly be respon- 

 sible for the trouble, and a large percentage of the money spent 

 failed to give any return of the kind expected. It is not fair to 

 say that it was wasted, because the local improvements were 



