97 



Chapter X 



DISSECTION AND EXAMINATION OF MOSQUITOES 

 FOR THE MALARIAL PARASITE 



DISSECTION OF MOSQUITOES 



Necessary Apparatus. 



1. Slides and coverglasses. 



2. Two needles, preferably the straight surgical 

 needles used for making blood films, as they have 

 a cutting edge. 



3. Some salt solution, about half per cent. 



4. It is convenient to have a white and a black 

 surface for dissecting on. 



Some mosquitoes are caught by placing over the 

 top of the jar used for feeding another empty jar of the 

 same size and kept alive in a dark cupboard for two 

 or three days, until their stomachs are quite free from 

 blood (seen by the complete disappearance of black 

 from the ventral portion of the abdomen). 



A few specimens are killed by c concussion,' in a 

 test tube. 



I. Observe (if a gravid female) two whitish areas 

 on either side of the hinder portion of the abdomen 

 (ripening ovaries). If the blood in the stomach be 

 not digested, a dark mass will be seen in front of these, 



