CHAPTER VIII 



THE MOSQUITO {Anopheks maculipennis) 



Part V 



Amongst aquatic larvae, the' most beautiful and delicate 

 are those of numerous species of gnat. — (Goring and Pritchabd's 

 Micrographia, 1837.) 



In the young larva of Anopheles the head 

 is broader and deeper than the thorax, but 

 in the older larvae the segments that succeed 

 the head have at least twice its diameter. 

 It is a characteristic of true flies, or Diptera, 

 that the thorax should not exhibit that 

 separation into three divisions which is so 

 usual is the less specialised insects — such as 

 the cockroach and this is peculiarly true 

 of the larva of the mosquito — at any rate, 

 so far as its external structure goes. The 

 abdomen of the larva consists of nine free 

 segments ; the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and 

 seventh of these bear palmate hairs on the 

 dorsal or upper surface, something like 

 hands with fourteen ' fingers ' spread out. 

 These hairs adhere to the under layer of the 



86 



