A MUSICAL BURGLAR. 



far more beautiful. Her form is more graceful and 

 elegant. Her attire is as gorgeous as a queen's. Her 

 wings, as thin as a spider's web, are of soft, amber 

 color. Her breast is brilliant red ; her body dark 

 green ; her eyes glittering like diamonds ; the proboscis, 

 with which she pierces for blood, keener than the finest 

 needle-point, and bright, like polished ebony. All 

 this beauty, however, is lost in the darkness of night, 

 and in the day-time, can be seen only by the aid of 

 the microscope. 



The complete mosquito lives wholly in the air, 

 though its infancy is passed in the water. The egg 

 from which it is hatched is one of several hundred 

 which, when laid, are glued together in 

 the shape of a boat, and set afloat on 

 the water. In about a week these eggs 

 are hatched, and then appears the swarm 

 of larvae, or " wigglers, " so often seen in 

 a stagnant pool, where they eat the par- 

 ticles of decaying matter that may con- 

 tain the germs of disease. When the 

 water is undisturbed, these active swim- 

 mers are found near the surface, with 

 their heads downwards. They breathe 

 the air through a hairy tube extending 

 out near the tail. Touch the top of the 

 water and they quickly wiggle to the bottom for safety. 



From ten to fifteen days after these larvae the wig- 

 glers appear, they change into the pupa state. The 

 pupa sheds its skin several times, and moves or tumbles 

 around by the use of two small fins or paddles. In 

 about ten days, when the perfect mosquito is grown 



Mosquito Larva. 



