FLIES AND OTHER HOUSEHOLD INSECTS 



23 



the roots of grasses and there is a record of its having been reared 

 from cow dung. Clusters of this insect can easily be destroyed by 

 dusting the flies liberally with fresh pyrethrum or insect powder. 

 The insecticide may be molded into moist cones and burned if pre- 

 ferred. The stupefied flies, in either case, should be swept up and 

 burned. 



The paper wasp^ 



Wasps and hornets 



and the common 



wasp^ frequently occur about buildings 

 and are of considerable service in de- 

 stroying flies. Occasionally, if excep- 

 tionally abundant, they may become a 

 nuisance on account of the danger from 

 stinging. These insects can easily be 

 excluded by the use of screens and in ^j 

 case of their being excessively abundant, 

 the nests should be found and the inmates destroyed at night with 

 chloroform or bisulfid of carbon. 



7 Wasp enlarged. (After Riley) 



House or rain barrel mosquito^ 



This modest, brown, though by no means retiring mosquito 

 hardly needs an introduction, 

 understood that we instinctively 

 prepare for the inevitable. This 



Its suggestive song is so well 



mosquito takes advantage of 

 man at every possible oppor- 

 tunity, while we tamely submit 

 to a series of annoyances which 

 could be eliminated at a less 

 expenditure of energy than is 

 necessary to endure repeated 

 trials of patience with a reason- 

 able degree of fortitude. 



Habits. This insect winters in 

 small numbers in houses or other 

 shelters, the females depositing clusters of eggs upon standing 

 water on the approach of warm weather. Breeding may continue 



^Vespa germanica Fabr. 



'^P o 1 i s t e s sp. 



^Culex pipiens Linn. 



Fig. 8 House mosquito. Egg mass with 

 enlarged eggs above and at the left; young 

 wrigglers below. (Reduced from Howard, 

 U. S. Dep't Agric. Div. Ent. Bui. 25. n. s, 

 1900) 



