13 
tive fluid is necessary for the formation of the eggs, but this supposi- 
tion is at once emphatically negatived by the fact that mosquitoes 
abound in regions into which warm-blooded animals never penetrate. 
The statement which the writer has elsewhere made, that not one in a 
million ever gets the opportunity to taste the blood of a warm-blooded 
animal, is unquestionably an underestimate. There are in this country 
enormous tracts of marshy land into which warm-blooded animals 
never find their way and in which mosquitoes are breeding in count- 
less numbers, and when we get within the Arctic Circle and other 
uninhabited regions the point is emphasized. Scattered through the 
seven volumes of Insect Life are records of the observation of the 
vegetarian habit, one writer stating that he has seen mosquitoes with 
their beaks inserted in boiled potatoes and another that he has seen 
watermelon rinds with many mosquitoes settled upon them busily 
engaged in sucking the juice. That they may and occasionally do 
feed upon other than warm-blooded animals, however, is evidenced 
by an observation by the late Dr. H. A. Hagen, who mentions taking 
a species of mosquito in the Northwest which was engaged in feeding 
upon the chrysalis of a butterfly, while there are several instances on 
record where they have been observed puncturing the heads of young 
fish and killing them. 
How far will mosquitoes fly?—The question is often asked: ‘*‘ How 
far will mosquitoes fly from their breeding places, or how far can they 
be driven by the wind?” In some instances this becomes a matter of 
practical importance, since, if mosquitoes fly great distances, exterm1- 
native work on the breeding places near a house or community will be 
of comparatively slight avail. There exists on this point a difference 
of opinion. In a discussion at the meeting of the Association of EKco- 
nomic Entomologists at Boston, in August, 1898, Dr. John B. Smith 
stated, in referring to the possibility of mosquitoes being carried by 
strong winds to considerable distances, that he had noticed that they 
would not rise or take flight when a brisk breeze was blowing, and 
that even a comparatively slight breeze will keep them from upper 
stories In houses. He, therefore, doubted the wide distribution of 
mosquitoes by high winds. Dr. H. T. Fernald stated that at Cold 
Spring Harbor, Long Island, with a north breeze there are no mos- 
quitoes. With a south breeze, on the other hand, they are often very 
troublesome, especially after a prolonged gentle wind of five or more 
hours’ duration. There are no pools in the center of the island, and 
the mosquitoes are supposed to have been carried from the south shore, 
a distance of some 15 miles. This question became a very practical 
one to the members of the Richmond County Country Club on Staten 
Island, in their operations against the breeding places of mosquitoes 
on the island, since, if a new supply could be carried over by the 
winds from the New Jersey coast near by, a large portion of their 
