MOSQUITO BITES AND REMEDIES 



453 



the females have been observed holding other flies between their 

 legs, and in captivity have been observed to deposit their eggs 

 on various species of flies. As remarked by Sambon, this fly may 

 have several ways of disposing of its eggs, but the utilization of 

 the mosquito and other insects as transports for them is probably 

 the usual method. 



The mosquito involved is most frequently found to be a species 

 of Janthinosoma. In 

 Central America J. 

 lutzi alone has been in- 

 criminated, but in Sao ^S*^***^^ 

 Paulo, Brazil, this spe- 

 cies and J. posticata, 

 and also other mos- 

 quitoes, have been 

 found to transport Der- 

 matobia eggs. J. lutzi 

 (Fig. 206) is a large 

 and beautifully colored 

 mosquito, with flashes 

 of metallic violet and 

 sky blue on its thorax 

 and abdomen. It is 



._, , . , v FIG. 206. Mosquito, Janthinosoma lutzi, with 



Said by Knab tO be One eggs> sup p OS edly of Dermatobia hominis, attached 

 of the most blood- to abdomen. (After Sambon.) 



thirsty of American 



mosquitoes and is found throughout tropical America. The 

 larvae breed almost exclusively in rain puddles, the eggs being 

 laid in dry depressions on the forest floor which will become basins 

 of water after a tropical downpour of rain. The eggs hatch almost 

 with the first drop of rain, and mature so rapidly that adult in- 

 sects may emerge in four or five days. The larvae feed on par- 

 ticles of organic matter, and are themselves fed upon by the 

 larvae of the closely allied genus of mosquitoes, Psorophora, which 

 breed in the same rain pools. 



Mosquito Bites and Remedies for Them 



As has been remarked before, the pain and irritation produced 

 by a mosquito bite is usually believed to be due to the injection 



