84 BIOS QUI TOES 



Late in November (1900), I t^peiit three days witli Mr. Brakeley 

 at Lahaway and one of our walks was into a huckleberry and 

 wild cranberry swamp, where pitcher plants were abundant. 

 Though the weather was yet mild, mosquitoes were no longer 

 obtrusive. There were occasional specimens, to be sure, but they 

 seemed to be left-overs not yet in hibernating quarters. The 

 interesting point w^is that in every leaf examined there were 

 wrigglers, varying in size from an eightli to a quarter of an inch 

 in length. There was always a mass of insect fragments at the 

 bottom, say from one half to an inch in depth, and in composi- 

 tion this varied from a dense black ooze at the lowest point to 

 entirely or only partly decayed specimens at the top of the njass. 

 The question arose at once whether these larvae would yet 

 develop that season, and from published accounts I assumed 

 that they must, or perish. Dr. Howard, in his careful account 

 of the species of Culex, and especially C. puiigens, says nothing of 

 larval hibernation. He records finding adults and, indeed, this 

 was in accordance with my own experience. 



The matter dropped here until late in January when, during a 

 bitter cold spell, Mr. Brakeley cut out a few pitcher leaves, 

 stripped them from the core of solid ice they contained, and 

 looking through it saw^ wrigglers imbedded in all parts of it, in 

 all sorts of shapes ; but mostly in a half coil. The temperature 

 of the bog liad been down to 2° below zero, as registered by a 

 standard minimum thermometer, and radiation probably lowered 

 this even more. 



A number of leaves were gathered, the cores of ice with all they 

 contained were removed, and the lumps were placed together in 

 a jar in a moderately warm room. The ice melted slowly, and 

 as the larvae were gradually freed, they dropped to the bottom, 

 where for a time they rested, apparently lifeless. But as the 

 amount of ice decreased, feeble motions here and there indicated 

 a revival, and long before the lumps were completely melted. 



