74 ANIMALS OF NO IMPORTANCE. 



ponds and puddles is a counsel of perfection, at any rate 

 in India, it is useful to know that fish readily eat anopheles 

 larvae ; hence, if a sheet of water cannot be abolished, stock 

 it with fish. 



It is, however, to two Cambridge dons Dr. Nuttall and 

 Mr. Shipley that we are indebted for the latest discovery 

 concerning mosquitos. They have an eye for colour. Nay 

 more, the artistic temperament appears to be developed in 

 them, since they prefer some colours to others. Navy blue 

 is a colour after the mosquito's own heart ; red is a good 

 second. The colour that mosquitos to use an expres- 

 sive vulgarism " can't abide," is khaki. This interesting 

 fact was discovered by taking a number of boxes lined 

 with cloth of different colours. These boxes were without 

 lids. They were placed in the sunlight in a room in which 

 mosquitos were bred in considerable quantities. Bananas, 

 or, in default of these, figs, form the diet most palatable to 

 the mosquito. The positions of these boxes were frequently 

 changed, so that there should be given a fair field, and no 

 favour shown, to every box. The mosquitos were then left 

 to their own devices and desires. And every day the 

 number of mosquitos which had settled in each box was 

 counted. The experiment lasted seventeen days. Navy 

 blue was the favourite colour. During the seventeen days 

 108 mosquitos settled in it. Dark red was a fair second 

 with 90 mosquitos. Not a single mosquito settled in the 

 box of which the lining was " pale yellow, almost the 

 colour of khaki." Next to the khaki the most unpopular 

 colours were white, ochre, light blue and pale green. 

 Mosquitos obviously prefer dark colours to light. 



These experiments can easily be tested by the man in the 

 street provided the street in which he lives contains mos- 

 quitos by his hanging up, side by side, a khaki and a 

 navy-blue coat, and observing the number of mosquitos 

 which settle on each. So conclusive is this experiment 

 considered that the ever-vigilant Americans have ordered 

 that in malarial regions the regulation army navy-blue 



