FOES AND FRIENDS OF THE PLANT 205 



MOSQUITOES AND FLIES 



Mosquitoes and flies have only two wings, while the 

 moths and beetles, already studied, have four wings. 

 Both mosquitoes and flies suck up their food through 

 a part of the mouth which is called a sucker. You 

 can easily see what this looks like when a house fly 

 feeds on a piece of sugar, or when a mosquito bites you. 



The eggs hatch into larvas, which after a time turn 

 into pupas, out of which comes the mosquito or fly. 



MOSQUITOES 



Some mosquitoes carry malaria. One may live in a 

 swamp full of malaria, but if he is not bitten by mos- 

 quitoes, he will not catch 

 the disease. 



Mosquitoes lay their 

 eggs in water (both fresh 

 and salt) or in mud, and 

 the eggs hatch out into 

 " wrigglers/ 7 which come 

 to the surface every little 

 while to breathe. A little 

 kerosene on the surface 

 of the water soon kills 

 them all. Cisterns may 



FIG. 117. A mosquito which carries -, i j_i 



malaria. be treated in this way, 



