﻿8 
  W. 
  A. 
  LAMBORN. 
  

  

  instance, 
  that 
  a 
  few 
  of 
  her 
  ova, 
  more 
  fortunately 
  placed 
  than 
  the 
  majority, 
  will 
  ulti- 
  

   mately 
  afford 
  imagos 
  to 
  carry 
  on 
  her 
  race, 
  the 
  larvae 
  which 
  develop 
  from 
  ova 
  less 
  

   fortunately 
  dropped 
  dying 
  out. 
  For 
  example, 
  an 
  A. 
  maculatns 
  may 
  be 
  presumed 
  to 
  

   have 
  oviposited 
  without 
  having 
  exercised 
  any 
  great 
  selection 
  in 
  a 
  fish-pond, 
  a 
  small 
  

   shallow 
  muddy 
  pool, 
  and 
  a 
  deep 
  sheltered 
  grassy 
  drain. 
  The 
  latter 
  situation 
  is 
  one 
  

   in 
  which 
  the 
  larvae 
  are 
  commonly 
  found, 
  and 
  their 
  occurrence 
  may 
  be 
  a 
  measure 
  of 
  

   the 
  suitability 
  of 
  the 
  place, 
  the 
  larvae 
  developing 
  from 
  ova 
  deposited 
  on 
  the 
  other 
  

   waters 
  perishing 
  at 
  an 
  early 
  stage. 
  But 
  judging 
  by 
  what 
  one 
  sees 
  in 
  the 
  case 
  of 
  other 
  

   insects, 
  the 
  presence 
  of 
  A 
  . 
  aconitus 
  in 
  the 
  situations 
  referred 
  to 
  is 
  more 
  likely 
  to 
  be 
  due 
  

   to 
  a 
  very 
  judicious 
  selection 
  by 
  the 
  female 
  parents 
  in 
  the 
  best 
  interests 
  of 
  their 
  off- 
  

   spring. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  a 
  far 
  more 
  general 
  rule 
  in 
  the 
  insect 
  world 
  that 
  the 
  female 
  parent 
  deposits 
  

   her 
  ova 
  with 
  almost 
  unfailing 
  precision 
  in 
  the 
  situations 
  best 
  suited 
  for 
  the 
  welfare 
  

   of 
  the 
  larvae. 
  For 
  instance, 
  the 
  female 
  butterfly, 
  of 
  species 
  having 
  leaf-eating 
  larvae, 
  

   lays 
  her 
  eggs 
  almost 
  invariably 
  on 
  the 
  softest 
  and 
  most 
  succulent 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  food- 
  

   plant, 
  often 
  selected 
  after 
  a 
  search 
  lasting 
  hours, 
  and 
  probably 
  days, 
  so 
  giving 
  her 
  

   offspring 
  the 
  best 
  possible 
  start 
  in 
  life 
  ; 
  she 
  will 
  often 
  die 
  in 
  captivity 
  rather 
  than 
  

   oviposit 
  on 
  an 
  unsuitable 
  plant. 
  Some 
  of 
  the 
  myrmecophilous 
  Lycaexidae 
  oviposit 
  

   in 
  the 
  very 
  track 
  of 
  ants, 
  so 
  ensuring 
  the 
  due 
  carriage 
  of 
  the 
  egg 
  to 
  the 
  ants' 
  nest 
  ; 
  

   and, 
  as 
  the 
  writer 
  showed 
  in 
  the 
  case 
  of 
  a 
  species 
  having 
  larvae 
  with 
  predacious 
  habits, 
  

   the 
  butterfly 
  is 
  at 
  pains 
  to 
  oviposit 
  actually 
  on 
  the 
  particular 
  little 
  " 
  bug 
  " 
  on 
  which 
  

   its 
  larva 
  feeds. 
  The 
  female 
  tsetse-fly 
  exercises 
  such 
  meticulous 
  discrimination 
  in 
  

   regard 
  to 
  the 
  choice 
  of 
  a 
  spot 
  in 
  the 
  earth 
  in 
  which 
  to 
  deposit 
  her 
  maggot 
  that, 
  though 
  

   the 
  fly 
  swarms 
  in 
  certain 
  districts 
  of 
  Africa, 
  its 
  breeding-places 
  were 
  discovered 
  only 
  

   after 
  long 
  and 
  patient 
  search 
  by 
  skilled 
  observers. 
  The 
  bot-fly 
  deposits 
  its 
  ovum 
  

   more 
  often 
  than 
  not 
  on 
  a 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  coat 
  where 
  it 
  can 
  most 
  readily 
  be 
  reached 
  bv 
  the 
  

   tongue 
  of 
  its 
  equine 
  host. 
  

  

  Some 
  definite 
  evidence 
  of 
  selection 
  by 
  Culex 
  fatigans 
  as 
  to 
  its 
  breeding-places 
  

   was 
  obtained 
  by 
  examination 
  at 
  Kuala 
  Lampur 
  of 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  pools 
  — 
  about 
  fifteen 
  — 
  

   made 
  by 
  the 
  passage 
  of 
  carts 
  and 
  transport 
  animals 
  through 
  soft 
  clayey 
  soil 
  at 
  the 
  

   side 
  of 
  the 
  road. 
  On 
  only 
  three 
  were 
  the 
  egg 
  rafts 
  of 
  the 
  Culex 
  found, 
  and 
  then 
  in 
  

   numbers 
  on 
  each 
  — 
  four 
  on 
  one 
  pool, 
  three 
  on 
  a 
  second 
  and 
  seven 
  on 
  a 
  third. 
  All 
  the 
  

   pools 
  were 
  under 
  the 
  same 
  conditions 
  in 
  regard 
  to 
  exposure 
  ; 
  all 
  were 
  absolutely 
  

   unshaded 
  ; 
  there 
  was 
  no 
  grass 
  round 
  any 
  ; 
  there 
  appeared 
  to 
  be 
  an 
  equal 
  absence 
  in 
  

   all 
  of 
  small 
  vegetation, 
  and 
  there 
  was 
  no 
  great 
  variation 
  as 
  regards 
  depth. 
  

  

  Some 
  experimental 
  evidence 
  bearing 
  on 
  the 
  question 
  was 
  obtained 
  in 
  the 
  laboratory 
  

   in 
  the 
  case 
  of 
  this 
  Culex. 
  In 
  three 
  large 
  vessels 
  water, 
  in 
  which 
  on 
  13th 
  August 
  rice 
  

   had 
  been 
  boiled, 
  was 
  left 
  standing. 
  The 
  water 
  soon 
  became 
  fetid 
  and 
  a 
  white 
  downy 
  

   fungus 
  growth 
  developed. 
  On 
  the 
  surface 
  of 
  the 
  water 
  in 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  jars 
  a 
  Culex 
  raft 
  

   was 
  discovered 
  on 
  20th 
  August 
  : 
  a 
  second 
  was 
  found 
  on 
  22nd 
  and 
  a 
  third 
  on 
  26th, 
  

   none 
  at 
  all 
  being 
  deposited 
  on 
  the 
  control 
  vessels, 
  side 
  by 
  side 
  with 
  the 
  first. 
  The 
  

   dissociation 
  of 
  the 
  eggshells 
  comprising 
  a 
  raft 
  may 
  take 
  a 
  considerable 
  time 
  after 
  the 
  

   hatching 
  of 
  the 
  larvae, 
  so 
  that 
  a 
  raft 
  may 
  long 
  serve 
  to 
  attract 
  an 
  ovipositing 
  female. 
  

  

  Laboratory 
  experience 
  with 
  Stegomyia 
  albopicta 
  was 
  precisely 
  the 
  same. 
  This 
  

   mosquito 
  was 
  an 
  absolute 
  nuisance 
  by 
  reason 
  of 
  its 
  ovipositing 
  in 
  vessels 
  containing 
  

   the 
  larvae 
  of 
  various 
  Anophelines, 
  so 
  necessitating 
  the 
  constant 
  removal, 
  for 
  the 
  

   sake 
  of 
  the 
  Anophelines, 
  of 
  their 
  stronger 
  and 
  more 
  active 
  competitors. 
  The 
  ova 
  were 
  

   found 
  day 
  by 
  day 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  particular 
  bowls, 
  though 
  others 
  containing 
  similar 
  

   Anopheline 
  larvae 
  in 
  water 
  from 
  the 
  same 
  place 
  were 
  available. 
  The 
  careful 
  

   selection 
  made 
  even 
  by 
  this 
  mosquito 
  was 
  further 
  exemplified 
  by 
  the 
  discovery 
  in 
  

   the 
  laboratory, 
  on 
  17th 
  August, 
  of 
  46, 
  and 
  on 
  30th 
  August, 
  of 
  72 
  ofa, 
  on 
  the 
  water 
  of 
  

   the 
  same 
  bowl, 
  the 
  only 
  one 
  in 
  which 
  Stegomyia 
  was 
  being 
  reared 
  out 
  of 
  twenty-five 
  

   all 
  full 
  of 
  water, 
  and 
  kept 
  under 
  the 
  same 
  conditions 
  as 
  regards 
  temperature 
  and 
  light. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  therefore 
  only 
  in 
  accordance 
  with 
  expectation 
  that 
  the 
  female 
  Anopheline, 
  

   also, 
  should 
  exercise 
  very 
  careful 
  selection 
  of 
  a 
  breeding-place. 
  Were 
  there 
  not 
  masses 
  

  

  