EGGS 



429 



among them. Without special adaptations in habits and physi- 

 ology to meet the exigencies of their diverse environment there 

 would be little chance for the mosquitoes of the frozen north 

 or of the parched tropical deserts to meet successfully the struggle 

 for existence. A great store of interesting facts concerning the 

 life history and habits of mosquitoes has been collected by 

 Howard, Dyar and Knab in Part I of their " Monograph of the 



Fig. 193. Eggs of mosquitoes; A, Culiseta inornatus; B, Mansonia perturbans; 

 C, Aedes calopus; D, Anopheles punctipennis, dorsal view; D', same, ventral view. 

 X 75. (After Howard, Dyar and Knab.) 



Mosquitoes of North and Central America and the West Indies " 

 and much of the information incorporated into this chapter 

 has been taken from their work. 



The eggs of mosquitoes (Fig. 193) are usually oval, with vari- 

 ous surface markings, and in Anopheles with a peculiar " float " 

 of air cells. The number of eggs laid by a single female mos- 

 quito varies from 40 or 50 to several hundred. Some species 



