34 P.D. 123 



1. Supervision of mosquito control projects organized under the "Mos- 

 quito Control Act". 



2. Maintenance of mosquito control works largely in salt marsh areas, 

 constructed with state funds as an unemployment relief measure during the 

 years 1931, 1932 and 1933. 



3. Surveys in cities and towns in response to petitions from municipal 

 administrative officials. 



4. Planning of W.P.A. projects for mosquito control drainage. 



5. Technical assistance to individuals undertaking to control the mos- 

 quito nuisance on their own property, and, 



6. Distribution of public information concerning the mosquito problem. 

 Under the first heading there are three mosquito control projects, funds for 



which are provided by municipal appropriations plus limited contributions 

 from interested individuals and organizations. 



The Cape Cod Project, comprising the fifteen towns in Barnstable County 

 which is the largest single project in the state, carried on its usual construc- 

 tion and maintenance work during the year 1939, and for this purpose the 

 sum of $36,041.26 was expended. This project is now completing its tenth 

 year of operation. It has reduced the prevalence of mosquitoes on Cape Cod 

 to the point where they are no longer a nuisance. The first control work of the 

 project was directed principally against the salt marsh mosquitoes, which, 

 surveys showed to be responsible for about 90% of the trouble. The control 

 of these mosquitoes is largely accomplished, and the work now consists prin- 

 cipally of the maintenance of the extensive salt marsh drainage that has been 

 installed to prevent breeding, and the locating and elimination of sporadic 

 breeding areas that appear during exceptional conditions of tide and rainfall. 

 An important part of the work of the project now is the controlling of other 

 species of mosquito, which with the disappearance of the salt marsh mosquito 

 as the preponderant element, has assumed greater proportional importance. 

 Good progress in the control of fresh water breeding species is being attained. 

 Drainage, oiling, and the elimination of opportunities for breeding near habi- 

 tations are being carried on. 



The records of the prevalence of adult mosquitoes for the last three years 

 show the various species to be present in the following proportions: 



Salt marsh species — 21% Mansonia perturbans 29%; 



Species of fresh water breeding — Aedes 34%; 



Culex 13%, and Anopheles 3%. 



Mansonia perturbans now presents the greatest difficulties of control on 

 the Cape. Mr. Hj. Myhre, Superintendent, and Mr. R. L. Armstrong, Ento- 

 mologist of the Cape Cod Project, have made considerable progress in locating 

 the breeding places and determining the habits of Mansonia perturbans and 

 in carrying on much-needed experimentation in the means of controlling this 

 particularly baffling species. 



The Nantucket Project does not cover as large an area as the Cape Cod 

 Project, but the work was started in the same year and has been ably sup- 

 ported by the town of Nantucket and the summer residents. Expenditures 

 for the Nantucket Project during 1939 were $2,165.36. 



The work of another small project in Belmont consists largely of oiling 

 catch basins. 



The projects organized under the state appropriations of 1931, 1932 and 

 1933 referred to in item 2 above, included practically all of the salt marsh 

 areas of the state, other than those already a part of the Cape Cod and 

 Nantucket projects. These projects consist of fifty-one seacoast cities and 

 towns of the Commonwealth, and in these areas most of the salt marshes have 

 been ditched except for certain sections of the North Shore between Cape 

 Ann and the New Hampshire line. In this particular section much ditching- 

 has already been provided, but there are still breeding areas which should 

 be ditched when funds are available. The state has made no appropriation 

 for this construction work since the beginning of C.W.A. activities in the 

 early winter of 1933-1934. 



