29 



stances may work considerable changes in one and the same species, and may possibly 

 cause as great a difference as appears between the gnat and the mosquito. 



We are all well acquainted with the peculiar buzzing singing of the mosquito and its 

 graceful flight, except when us-ward, but there are many points of beauty and interest 

 about the insect which can only be revealed by the microscope. 



The body is long and cylindrical. When in a state of repose one of its wings i& 

 crossed over the other. They present a charming appearance when seen through a mi- 

 croscope, their nervures as well as their edges being completely covered with scales shaped 

 like oblong plates, and finely striated longitudinally. These scales are also found on all 

 the segments of the body. The antennae, especially those of the male, have a fine 

 feathery appearance. 



Their eyes, covered with network, are so large that they cover nearly the whole of the 

 Fig. 23. head. Fig. 23 shows the head of the mosquito magnified, 



with its eyes and mouth parts. 



The instrument which the insect employs for punctur- 

 ing the skin is called the trunk, and is well worthy of our 

 attention. That which is generally seen is merely the case 

 of those instruments which are intended to pierce our skin 

 and suck our blood, and in which they are held as lancets 

 and other articles are held in a surgeon's case. The case is 

 cylindrical, covered with scales, and terminates in a small 

 knob. Split from end to end that it may open, it con- 

 tains a perfect bundle of stings. Reaumur observed, that this 

 compound sting enters the skin to a considerable depth, 

 bending the case into a bow until the two ends meet. 

 According to this naturalist the sting is composed of five 

 parts, but at present it is believed there are six. Each part more or less resembles a 

 sword in miniature. The sting of a mosquito bears about the same proportion to the 

 point of the finest needle, that the latter does to a sword point. 



It is to be borne in mind that it is only the female mosquito which is so annoying to 

 humanity, as to shake one's belief in that amiability of character which we are always 

 disposed to accord femininity. Packard thus graphically describe?; the operation of punc- 

 turing : — "As she leaps off from her light bark, the cast chrysalis skin of her early life 

 beneath the waters, and sails away in the sunlight, her velvety wings fringed with silken 

 hairs, and her neatly bodiced trim figure (though her nose is rather salient, considering 

 that it is half as long as her entire body), present a beauty and grace of form and move- 

 ment quite unsurpassed by her dipterous allies. She draws near and softly alights on the 

 hand of the charmed beholder, subdues her trumpeting notes, folds her wings noiselessly 

 upon her back, daintily sets down one foot after the other, and with an eagerness 

 chastened by the most refined delicacy for the feelings of her victims, and with an air of 

 velpeau redivivus, drives through crushed and bleeding capillaries, shrinking nerves and 

 injured tissues, a many-bladed lancet of marvellous fineness, of wonderful complexity and 

 fitness." " Her hind body may be seen filling with the red blood until it cries quit, and 

 the insect withdraws its sting and flies sluggishly away. In a moment the wounded parts 

 itch slightly, though a very robust person may not notice the irritation, or a more delicate 

 individual if asleep ; though if weakened by disease, or if stung in a sensitive and highly 

 vascular part, such as the eye-lid, the bite becomes really a serious matter." It is not at 

 all probable that such a painful wound is caused by the simple puncture of such a small 

 instrument ; indeed it is admitted that it is caused by the exudation of a very small quan- 

 tity of liquid during the puncturing process, and which probably serves to dilute the 

 blood. A good remedy is to wash the part immediately and thereby dilute the poison. 



At the proper time the female lays her elongated oval eggs in a boat shaped mass 

 which floats on the water. Our readers will perhaps not feel much pleasure in learning 

 that the fecundity of these insects is extraordinary. Many generations are born in a sin- 

 gle year, each generation only requiring a few weeks to arrive at a condition to bring 

 forth another. 



From these eggs are hatched numerous larvae or grubs. The larva lives at the 

 bottom of pools and ditches, feeding upon decaying matter, thus acting as a scavenger 



