250 



NETT YORK STATE MUSEUM 



Eggs. Dr Dyar has made a somewhat extensive study of the 

 oviposition habits of various mosquitos, and has ascertained in the 

 case of the species studied, that those with unhanded legs produce 

 eggs which float on the surface, some in masses, as for example, 

 C. p i p i e n s , while in others they may be deposited singly or in 

 small groups of two or three. The ring-legged species deposit 

 their eggs, like C. sollicitans for example, in dry places 

 where water is likely to collect, a portion hatching after a wetting, 

 so that a series of swarms are produced by high tides and storms 

 from the overwintering eggs. C. canadensis deposits its eggs 



singly and many sink to the 



bottom, most of them remain- 

 ing unhatched till the following 

 spring. C. sylvestris lays 

 its eggs in a similar man- 

 ner, and the species breeds 

 continuously throughout the 

 season, practically all eggs 

 hatching when covered by 

 water, except possibly those 

 laid in September, which, in 

 the instance under observation, hibernated. 



Larvae. Mosquito larvae, as a rule, subsist mostly on decaying 

 vegetable matter and algae, though they are also carnivorous in 

 habit, and species of Oorethra and Sayomyia entirely so. Certain 

 species have decided preferences in breeding places, some being 

 found only in or near brackish or salt water, others only in fresh 

 water, a few in foul water, some in warm, fresh water, while 

 others prefer cool spring-fed pools and similar places. Dr Dyar 

 observes that larvae with a short air tube are generally found in 

 tempiorary pools, while those with a long air tube occur in perma- 

 nent waters. Small fish feed on the larvae so readily, that they 

 are very rarely found where these enemies occur, and consequently 

 practically all breeding is limited to fishless waters, except in the 

 case of some of the more transparent forms like Sayomyia. 



Fip:. 1 Culex pipiens. Egg mass, 

 with enlarged eggs at left and j'oung 

 larvae. (Reduced from Howard. U. S. 

 Dep't Agric. Div. Ent. Bui. 25, n. s. 1900) 



