108 MORE MINOR HORRORS 



As is so often the case with mosquitos, it 

 is the female alone which bites. The male 

 nourishes itself on plant- juices, saps, and so on 

 — especially they like sugary secretions — and 

 in the absence of blood the female is re- 

 duced to a similar diet. Hence Stegomyia is 

 comparatively common in dwellings where 

 sweetstuffs are — bakeries, sugar- 

 refineries, and so on. These mos- 

 quitos are, like the cockroach, 

 the fly, and the bed-bug, inhabi- 

 tants of human dwellings. They 

 are indeed domesticated, and are 

 always to be found in the neigh- 

 FiG. 29.— Egg bourhood of human houses or 

 i^^^ylZ l^uildings or ships, and are very 

 nified). Notice rarely iudccd found far away from 

 t e air- ce s. ^j^^ sphcrc of mau's activities. 



They are very apt to bite one in the neck, 

 creeping along the darker parts of the 

 clothing until an unprotected region of the 

 body is reached. Unless one has very thick 

 socks they frequently bite the ankle, and they 

 are as tireless in their pesterings as ever Mrs. 

 Pardiggle was — no sooner are they driven 

 away than they return to the attack. The 

 bite is painful, and in many people raises a 

 considerable swelling. 



The Stegomyia bite not only during the night, 

 but also during the day. According to R. O. 



