144 



aquatic lit* 



Fahrenheit, seems to meet the needs of 

 this fish, though it is not particularly 

 delicate in this respect. Sudden changes, 

 especially from high to low, are injurious 

 to this and all other warm water fishes, 

 and must be carefully avoided. Belone- 

 sox is ovoviviparous, and in breeding 

 should be treated like the other live- 

 bearing species. Due to its voracious- 

 ness it is rather difficult to save the 

 babies. 



More on account of its peculiar form 

 and greedy habits does this fish appeal to 

 the aquarian, and particularly to those 

 having an over-abundance of young 

 fishes with which to sate its appetite! 

 I prefer to pass it up; such maintenance 

 is too costly. 



The Mosquitoes 



The mosquitoes, family Culicidae, do 

 not form a large insect group, but are an 

 important one. They are a pest, and carry 

 disease. They range from the tropics to 

 Alaska, Lapland and Greenland. They 

 are true air-breathers, but are born in 

 stagnant water. They breed rapidly, and 

 pass through several generations a year; 

 the adults hibernating in outhouses, cel- 

 lars and cold garrets. The main purpose 

 of the adult seems to be propagation of 

 the species ; its life to be dependent only 

 upon this opportunity. Females are nor- 

 mally plant-feeders, their mouth-parts 

 very different from the flesh-sucking 

 males. 



Five genera are represented in this 

 country : Anopheles, Aides, Megarhinus, 

 Psorophora and Culex. Most of our 

 species belong to the genus Culex. 

 Those of the genus Anopheles carry ma- 

 laria. Those of the genus Aides are very 

 small ; those of Megarhinus and Psoro- 

 phora are large — known as gallinippers. 



Eggs, numbering from 200 to 400, are 

 laid in a. raft-like mass, gray-brown from 



above and silvery white from below. 

 Laid in the early morning, the eggs will 

 hatch, on a warm day, by two in the 

 afternoon. The wigglers are very active, 

 breathing at the surface, descending for 

 food. The wiggler moults three times, 

 reaches maturity and transforms to a 

 pupa in a minimum of seven days, in hot 

 weather ; in cool weather this takes much 

 longer. The pupa stage lasts two days, 

 longer in cool weather, when the skin 

 splits and the adult mosquito emerges. — 

 Gayne T. K. Norton in Nature-Study 

 Review. 



The larvae of mosquitoes form a food 

 for aquarium fishes that is equal, if not 

 superior, to daphne for those large 

 enough to consume them. A number of 

 successful goldfish breeders ascribe the 

 rapid growth of their youngsters to the 

 abundant use of wigglers. They may 

 often be collected in quantity in pools, or 

 in bays of slow-moving streams. 



When using a rubber hose to syphon the 

 sediment from the bottom of an aquarium 

 it is a difficult matter to guide it about 

 with precision. To overcome the diffi- 

 culty take a strip of wood, a piece of an 

 old box sandpapered smooth, measuring 

 one inch wide and six inches longer than 

 the aquarium is deep. Fasten the hose 

 to the rod with three rubber bands — 

 bottom, middle and at a point several 

 inches from the upper end of the rod. 

 After the syphon is started by a slight 

 suck at the end of the hose, the other 

 end, in the aquarium, may be moved 

 about as desired. If plants, snails or 

 stones are caught, a pressure of the fin- 

 gers on the hose will stop the syphon and 

 the object will drop, after which a release 

 of the pressure will again start the water. 



Promises may get you friends, but non- 

 performance will turn them into enemies. 



