MOSQUITO 



39G6 



MOSQUITO 



be noticed that a pair of fine brushes on its 

 head act like brooms, sweeping toward the 

 mouth the tiny food particles in the water. 

 This scavenger sen-ice of the wrigglers is tho 

 only useful thing the mosquito ever does in the 

 entire course of its existence, and even that 

 sen-ice is of little benefit to man. 



The microscope will show that the tail is 

 forked, one of the two divisions sen-ing as a 

 breathing apparatus. Every few minutes the 

 larva comes wriggling up to the surface for air, 

 assuming the strange position shown in the 

 drawing (b, d), head down and breathing tube 

 extending just above the water. If for any 

 reason it cannot get air it drowns which is an 

 important point to remember. Several times 

 during its wriggler stage usually lasting from 

 one to four days the insect sheds its skin, and 

 when it does so for the final time it has changed 

 to a new form. 



The Half-Grown Mosquito, or Pupa. The 

 young mosquito has now reached the pupa 

 stage (f). A familiar name for it is tumbler, or 

 jumper, in reference to its gymnastic habits. 

 It is rather ungainly in appearance, with its 



LIFE HISTORY OF THE MOSQUITO 

 (a) Eggs in mass, with enlargements above; 

 (c) (e) larvae (young), or wrigglers; (6) (d) 

 wrigglers breathing at surface of water; (/) 

 pupa, or tumbler; (y) male adult; (t) female 

 adult; (h) bill of female. 



over-large head and two breathing tubes, like 

 small horns, which now project from the thorax. 

 As it no longer has a mouth, it cannot feed, 

 but spends the time at the surface; disturbed, 

 it swims swiftly down into the water. 



The Adult Mosquito, or Imago. In a short 

 time, generally after two or three days more, 

 the skin cracks along the back and the full- 

 grown mosquito comes forth (g, i), using its 



cast-off skin for support while it dries itself in 

 tho sun. The transformation is now complete, 

 and the insert begins its adult life, generally 

 from one to two weeks in length. Wrigglers, 

 tumblers or full-grown mosquitoes which are 

 born late in the season, and caught in the first 

 cold snap, will lie dormant until the spring thaw 

 enables them to finish their natural term of life. 

 How It Feeds, Hears and Smells. The bill or 

 proboscis (h) of the female is a wonderful in- 

 strument and very fitly called a stylet. Under 

 the microscope it shows that it is composed of 

 six fine, extremely sharp needles which pierce 

 the victim's flesh, and a slender tube through 

 which the blood is sucked into the insect's 

 mouth. Thus what we call a mosquito "bite" 

 is not really a bite, but a puncture made by 

 this daggerlike mouth; and the irritation is 

 caused by a bit of saliva injected into the 

 wound, presumably for the purpose of thinning 

 the blood and so making it easier for the insect 

 to draw it into her mouth tube. The male 

 mosquito is provided with a bill that can suck 

 but not pierce. The bushy antennae (feelers) 

 on either side of his beak serve him for ears, 

 and when the female sings her shrill song these 

 feathery hairs inform him by their vibration 

 that she is in his neighborhood. It was this 

 familiar hum that inspired Bryant's lines, To 

 a Mosquito: 



Fair insect ! that, with threadlike legs spread out, 

 And blood-extracting bill and filmy wing, 



Dost murmur, as thou slowly sail'st about, 

 In pitiless ear full many a plaintive thing, 



And tell how little our large veins would bleed, 

 Would we but yield them to thy bitter need. 



The feelers at the base of the beak in both 

 male and female mosquitoes are believed to be 

 the organs of taste and smell. 



The Ordinary Tormentor. The common mos- 

 quito, whose attentions we find so annoying,, 

 but which in America, at least is not accused 

 of the crime of spreading disease, belongs to 

 the group called Culex, the Latin word for gnat. 

 The nicknames are gutter mosquito and rain- 

 barrel mosquito, out of compliment to its pe- 

 culiar taste in the matter of residence. This 

 mosquito is a true "citizen of the world," 

 equally at home in mountainous lands and in 

 low-lying seacoast regions, in Arctic countries 

 during their brief summer season, and in tem- 

 perate and tropical climates. Those in Alaska, 

 Greenland, Kamchatka, and around the Lake 

 of the Woods in Canada are particularly nu- 

 merous. The Culex are a very prolific clan, mul- 

 tiplying so rapidly that as many as a dozen 



