REARING MOSQUITOES 181 
small pins used for Microlepidoptera upon narrow strips of cork. The method 
of pinning on pins run through card-board disks, in use among British col- 
lectors, we find objectionable, as the disk interferes with the proper examination 
of the specimen, and it is impossible to remove the insect from the mount with- 
out relaxing and remounting it. Furthermore, the specimens very often get 
broken by the disks becoming loose upon the pin. Labels, giving the exact 
locality and date of capture and the name of the collector, should be pinned upon 
the larger pin of every mount. 
SENDING BY MAIL OR EXPRESS. 
Specimens which are to be sent to a distance, should be placed while still soft 
in pill boxes between two layers of cotton, packed loosely and not again opened 
until they reach their destination. Tin boxes and glass vials should be avoided, 
as the retained moisture causes the specimens to mould. Collections made in 
moist climates must be well disinfected with creosote or some similar substance. 
The pill boxes to be sent by mail, should be securely packed in a stout outer 
wooden box that will not be crushed in transit. Considerable risk always attends 
sending pinned specimens by mail or express. This can be minimized by proper 
packing. The pins should be firmly set in a cork-bottomed box over which a thin 
layer of loose cotton has first been spread. This box should then be packed in a 
stout outer box, at least four inches larger than the inner box in all dimensions, 
the space between loosely packed with excelsior or other elastic packing material. 
REARING. 
Captured adult mosquitoes, even when most carefully collected, are liable to 
be more or less damaged, often unrecognizable, since the insects lose their scales 
easily even when living in a state of nature. It is therefore desirable to breed 
specimens from the larve as far as possible. It is still important to collect the 
adults, as many species may be thus taken which would be overlooked if only bred 
specimens were retained. Some species are not infrequent as adults, the larve 
of which are very difficult to obtain, if they are not entirely unknown. The 
larve of mosquitoes are of great importance in specific determination. Many 
species of Culex are of uncertain determination without the associated larve, 
while some Aédes have identical adults, yet dissimilar larve. The characters 
of the larve reside in the modifications of the chitinous appendages of the skin 
and the arrangement of the hairs. As these are fully retained by the cast skins, 
it is possible to preserve both the larva and the adult of the same identical speci- 
men, thus assuring absolutely correct associations. This should be done wher- 
ever possible. To secure it, the mosquito larve to be reared should be isolated in 
separate tubes. We find flat-bottomed glass tubes about one inch in diameter to 
be suitable. They should be loosely stoppered with cotton. Having obtained a 
culture of mosquito larve, the collector pours the liquid and contained larve 
into a shallow dish, one of white material preferred, and with a pipette or spoon 
places one larva in each tube. Care should be exercised to introduce no pre- 
daceous enemy with the larva. The tube is then filled two-thirds full with the 
