150 



ends, and the needle-like hypopharynx. The long five- 

 jointed palps of the 1st maxillae are carried at the sides 

 of the proboscis tube. 



When the female mosquito is about to feed, she places 

 the sensory bilobed tip (labellae) of the flexible labium 

 upon the -skin; and, holding the palps out of the way, 

 she then proceeds to make the wound, directing the piercing 

 and cutting stylets between the two lobes " in much the 

 same way as a billiard cue is guided between the fingers 

 of the player." The puncture is (probably) made by the 

 labrum-epipharynx and hypopharynx, and is widened by 



E. Eye. . Lb. Labellae. 



C. Clypeus. H. Hypopharynx. 



A. Antennae. MX. ist Maxillae. 



L. Labium or Lower Lip. M. Mandibles. 



L-ep. Labrum-epipharynx. 



P. Maxillary paips (short in Culicine mosquitoes). 



FIG. 29. -Side View of Head and Mouth-parts of a Female Mosquito 



(Culex pipiens). 



the maxillae and mandibles which act like saws. The 

 stylets cut deep, and the labium bends like a bow. Saliva 

 then passes (through the hollow hypopharynx) into the 

 wound ; and the blood is sucked up in the labial gutter, 

 by the action of the suctorial pharynx. The blood passes 

 from the pharynx into the oesophagus which has two 

 Bmall dorsal pouches and a long ventral reservoir where 

 the blood is stored. These three diverticula represent the 

 crop. The end of the oesophagus is swollen (oesophageal 

 valve) ; and succeeding this is the mid-gut which has a 

 long tubular portion and a dilated "stomach" in which 

 the food (blood) is digested. The gametocyte stages of 

 the malaria parasite are found in the " stomach." Five 



