MOSQUITOES. CULEX. ANOPHELES. 



Culex pipiens, C. Equina, Anopheles, characters, larvae. Prevention: 

 Curtains, " smudge," parasiticides, drainage, kerosene or phenol in water, 

 or fish or frogs in it, remove brush, plant belts of trees. Locally on bites, 

 ammonia, phenol, sodium carbonate, potassium permanganate, lead acetate. 



The cuKcidcs or gnats are represented by the common mo,squito, 

 culex pipiens, the female of which attacks man and beast, 

 mostly at night, piercing the skin with the stylets of its rostrum 

 and not only sucking blood, but instilling a poison which produces 

 active inflammation, itching and swelling. The culex equinus 

 is especially troublesome to horses, and the anopheles, character- 

 ized among other things by the black spots on its wings, is re- 

 markable for inoculating the protozoa that cause malarial fevers. 



The culicidae are characterized by a long slender body (5 to 

 6 mm), the fourteen segmented antennae, by the thick bulging 

 thorax, by the large head, the prolonged rostrum containing .six 

 perforating lancets. The legs are long and delicate, the wings 

 long and narrow and produce a singing note in flight. The larvae 

 known as wrigglers are found in pools and other stagnant bodies 

 of fresh water and damp ground on which the parent lays her 

 eggs. 



Prevention. The attacks of the mosquito are warded off by 

 mosquito curtains, by smudge, the patient standing or lying in the 

 dense smoke of burning green grass, or by covering the skin by 

 parasiticides offensive to the gnat. To prevent their reproduction 

 the drainage of ponds, marshes and damp soils is the most effec- 

 tive measure, or when this cannot be accomplished the sprinkling 

 of kerosene or phenol on the water in which they breed, or by 

 propagating frogs or fishes in the water. Shrubbery, brush and 

 dense foliage harbor the gnats to come out in swarms at night, 

 yet a belt of woods between the breeding places and the higher 

 grounds will largely protect the latter against invasion. To 

 lessen the itching of the bites solutions of ammonia, phenol, 

 sodium bicarbonate, potassium permanganate, or lead acetate may 

 be applied. 



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