402 



Handbook of Nature-Study 



Antenna of male mosquito 

 enlarged. 



The male mosquitoes have bushy, or feathery, antennae These 

 antennae are hearing organs of very remarkable construction ; (see Ways 

 of the Six-Footed, p. 8.) The Anopheles may be distinguished from the 

 Culex by the following characteristics : Its wings are spotted instead of 



plain. When at rest it is perfectly straight, 

 and is likely to have the hind legs in the air. 

 It may also rest at an angle to the surface 

 to which it clings. The Culex is not 

 spotted on the wings and is likely to be 

 humped up when at rest. In our climate 

 the Anopheles is more dangerous than the 

 Culex because it carries the germs of 

 malaria. A mosquito's wing under a 

 microscope is a most beautiful object, as it 

 is "trimmed" with ornamental scales about 

 the edges and along the veins. The male 

 mosquitoes neither sing nor bite; the song of the female mosquito is 

 supposed to be made by the rapid vibration of the wings, and her 

 musical performances are for the purpose of attracting her mate, as 

 it has been shown that he can hear through his antenna a range of notes 

 covering the middle and next higher octaves of the piano. 



Of late we are learning that the mosquitoes are in a very strange way a 

 menace to health. Through a heroism, as great as ever shown on field of 

 battle, men have imperiled their lives to prove that the germs of the terri- 

 ble yellow fever were transmitted by the biting mosquito, and with 

 almost equal bravery other men have demonstrated that the germs of 

 malaria are also thus carried. 



In the North, our greatest danger is from the mosquitoes which carry 

 the malarial germs, and these are the mosquitoes with spotted wings and 

 belong to the genus Anopheles. This mosquito, in order to be of danger 

 to us must first feed upon the blood of some person suffering from malaria 

 (ague) and thus take the 

 germ of the disease into its 

 stomach. Here the germ 

 develops and multiplies into 

 many minute germs, which 

 pass through another stage 

 and finally get into the 

 blood of the mosquito and 

 accumulate in the salivary 

 glands. The reason any 

 mosquito bite or insect bite 

 swells and itches is because, 

 as the insect's beak is inser- 

 ted into the flesh, it carries 

 with it some of the saliva 

 from the insect's mouth. In 

 the case of Anopheles these 

 malarial germs are carried 

 with the saliva into the blood 

 of the victim. It has been 

 proven that in the most 



The pupa of a mosquito, greatly magnified. Note 



b the breathing tubes near the Itead. 



Drawn by Eveljoi Mitchell. 



