212 MOSQUITO ERADICATION 



MAMMALIA — Eptesicus fuscus. 



Many of these, of course, may turn out to be of no practical 

 value; others may be of value in destroying the earlier stages of 

 the mosquito, like fish: others finally, may be developed into 

 instruments of destruction as against the adult mosquito. 



DESTRUCTION OF MOSQUITOES IN DWELLINGS 



"Swat the fly" has long been a slogan in anti-fly campaigns, 

 in which this procedure has been recognized as a valuable 

 adjunct to other methods of eradication. In anti-mosquito 

 work "swatting" the mosquito is an equally valuable auxiliary 

 measure. 



The importance of "swatting" the mosquito was first recog- 

 nized in the sanitary work of the Panama Canal Zone, where 

 it was found that daily, systematic killing or catching of mosqui- 

 toes in the laborers' barracks resulted in a noticeable reduction 

 in the incidence of malaria. The application of this measure 

 there, as an adjunct to screening, was made possible by a standard 

 type of screened dwelling, a population under one central control 

 and a trained organization to carry out the work. The procedure 

 under these conditions proved effective, and the possibility of 

 its application to other conditions should be more fully 

 investigated. 



Repeated surveys show that the favorite hiding-places of 

 mosquitoes in and about homes include "garrets, bed-rooms, 

 on walls, under mosquito-bars, behind pictures, on clothing, 

 behind doors and furniture, in barns, open fire-places, privies, 

 chicken coops, wood and coal sheds, stables, garages, under 

 porches and buildings, in wind-protected corners of porches, 

 in empty barrels, trash-heaps, wagons, carriages, automobiles 

 and on spider webs." 1 



For killing mosquitoes on walls, etc., probably the best device 

 is an ordinary fly-swatter. For attacking them on ceilings 

 the writer has successfully used a piece of board about a foot 

 square, covered with several thicknesses of gauze and attached 

 horizontally to the top of a pole 6 or 8 feet long. 



Where it is not practicable to reach the mosquitoes with either 

 of these weapons, they may be driven out by burning pyrethrum 

 powder. This powder is not highly efficient in killing mosquitoes, 



1 R. H. von Ezdorf in "Anopheline Surveys" U. S. Public Health Service, 

 1918. 



