CHAPTER III 



MOSQUITOES, THEIR HABITS AND DISEASE RELA- 

 TIONS 



MOSQUITOES are really a kind of small fly differing 

 from house-flies in size and in their power to "bite." 

 They are no more abundant to-day than they were a 

 century ago; but much greater interest is shown in 

 them nowadays than formerly because of their relations 

 to certain diseases. Since the discoveries were made 

 that mosquitoes carry certain diseases the hum of one 

 of these insects has come to have an entirely new 

 meaning for us. Before, our only thought was to kill 

 the insect to prevent it from annoying us. Now, we 

 see visions of sickbeds, feverish patients, suffering, and, 

 in many cases, death. Naturally, a great deal of interest 

 in mosquitoes has been aroused, and very properly so, 

 because we should take an interest in anything that affects 

 our health. 



There are known to be nearly 400 different kinds of 

 mosquitoes in North America alone, and over sixty species 

 occur in the United States. Not over half a dozen of these 

 are common about our houses and only three 1 of them 

 are known to carry malaria and only one is concerned 

 in disseminating yellow fever. The malarial species 

 occur all over the United States in sufficient numbers 



1 The three species are Anopheles quadrimacidatus and Anopheles 

 crucians with Anopheles psetulopunctipennis as a probable third host. 



