18 



MOSQUITO 



Composition. — Write a letter to some friend tell- 

 ing Avliat you have observed about wigglers. In your 

 letter Avrite what you would say if you were talking 

 to your friend. 



SUPPLEMENTARY WORK 



Mosquitoes' Eggs. — You may often see black specks floating 

 on the water where you find wigglers. The specks may be 

 flakes of soot from a chimney. Pick up one of them and 

 crush it between your fingers. If it is made up of long grains, 



WiGGLER (Magnified) 



it is probably a raft of eggs which a mosquito has laid on top 

 of the water. Each egg hatches out a tiny larva called a 

 loigcjler. In the life of a mosquito the egg is the first stage, 

 and the wiggler the second. 



How a Wiggler breathes. — A wiggler breathes air through 

 a tube that extends sidewise from its body near the hinder end. 

 It often comes to the top of the water to breathe, and it rests 

 with its breathing tube open to the air. 



What Wigglers eat. — Look carefully at a wiggler at rest, 

 and observe its mouth parts. Notice how it keeps them 

 moving. It is taking in particles of food too small to be 

 seen with our naked eyes. The natural home of wigglers is in 

 stagnant water, in such places as cisterns, rain barrels, hollow 



