THE MOSQUITO 59 



is rose-buds covered with aphides— probably 

 due to the sweetened secretion which these 

 insects exude. The feeding is sometimes very 

 ravenous, so that the insects become distended, 

 the bright colour of blood, or coloured sap, 

 readily shining through the joints of their 

 chitinous armour. 



The reaction to heat and cold is that 

 common to many insects. During the winter 

 the imagines become torpid, quiescent, and 

 cease to worry one. With returning warmth 

 they become lively again, and generally wake 

 from their winter sleep in a state of consider- 

 able hunger. They are insects which prefer 

 darkness to light, and during the day-time 

 congregate in caverns and grottos, under the 

 shade of trees and bushes, beneath bridges, 

 in barns, and so on. As the sun sinks they 

 emerge from their hiding-places and fly during 

 the night. 



Cambon, writing on A. maculipennis found 

 in the Roman Campagna, says that imagines 

 ' appear a few minutes after sunset and 

 disappear a few minutes before sunrise.' We 

 were able to confirm this at Cambridge. The 

 insects retired into the shadiest parts of the 

 boxes in which they were living until the 

 time of sunset, when- a loud buzzing was 

 heard, and the insects promptly fed on the 

 food which they had neglected during the 



