26 LIFE AND HABITS OF DOMESTIC MOSQUITOS 



The female mosquito lays her eggs in broods. 

 After mating and after some meals of blood the 

 female returns to water to oviposit. The domestic 

 mosquito prefers dirty water on which to lay her 

 eggs. She lays them either in rafts of three hundred 

 at a time, or more loosely bound together ; Culex 

 fatigans affects the former, while Stegomyia prefers 

 the latter. Anophelines lay their eggs singly. But 

 the water collection must be sheltered from the 

 wind, for the operation of laying three hundred or 

 more eggs requires some time, and mosquitos cannot 

 withstand a gust of wind their wings and legs are 

 delicate structures. The egg-raft of the Culex is 

 about an eighth of an inch in length, and can be 

 readily seen floating on the surface of the water. 

 The eggs of Stegomyia merely cling together, and, 

 although they can be seen by the naked eye, a mag- 

 nifying glass is needed to distinguish the details of 

 their form. The easiest way to find mosquito eggs 

 in a warm climate is to leave a bucket of dirty water 

 in the kitchen for a night, when the eggs will be 

 found floating either in rafts or in batches on the 

 water in the morning. They can then be gently 

 lifted off the water, and examined under the micro- 

 scope. 



The domestic mosquito likes to lay her eggs on 

 the surface of dirty water, for she knows that this will 

 supply plenty of food for her children, the larvae, 

 when they have hatched from the eggs into swimming 

 " wrigglers." This can be demonstrated by an interest- 

 ing experiment. Place two buckets side by side in a 



