NATURE STUDY 



wrigglers and winged mosquitoes and are, of course, not well 

 adapted for the younger children. 



As the wrigglers hang head downward from the surface of the 

 water there can be seen, with unassisted eye, two little tufts of 

 hairs projecting from the head which are usually in rapid vibratory 

 motion. What is the meaning of the movement of these hair 

 tufts? If a wriggler be put into a watch-glass of water and be 

 examined with a magnifier the head will be seen to have the 

 appearance shown in figure 5. The two tufts of hairs, t, are situ- 

 ated at the sides of the mouth and their constant vibration is for 

 the purpose of creating little currents in the water, which are di- 

 rected towards the mouth and which carry food, i. e., tiny parti- 

 cles of organic matter, into the mouth. On the head may also be 

 seen the eyes, e, and the feelers or antennae, a. If the other end, 

 the caudal extremity, of the wriggler be examined it will be found 

 to present the appearance shown by the lower right hand portion 

 of figure 5. In the finger-like breathing process may be seen the 

 true breathing tube, b. t. This breathing process arises from the 

 next to the last segment of the body. At the tip of the last seg- 

 ment may be seen four small leaf-like flaps whose use is not cer- 

 tainly known but which may aci; as a rudder for the body. The 

 posterior opening of the alimentary canal, a. c, is located in this 

 segment. 



Now examine a pupa (fig 6) under the magnifier. On the 

 large head end of the body may be seen the pair of breathing tubes 

 b. t., previously referred to, and also the developing wings and 

 legs of the mosquito. These wings and legs are all folded closely 

 together and are covered with a thin membrane. At the tail end 

 of the body may be seen the two large swimming flaps. 



Kill a few winged mosquitoes and examine them with the 

 magnifier You will find two kinds, in general appearance very 

 much alike but differing in some details; the most obvious difier- 

 ence is in the character of the antennas. Some have antennae which 

 bear many long hairs (fig. 7, a.) The antennae look bushy. These 



