CHAPTER VI 



MOSQUITOES 

 OSQUITOES are no more abundant now 



time he catalogued only six species of mosquitoes. 

 Only a few years ago, 1901, Dr. Theobald of the 

 British Museum published a book on the mosqui- 

 toes of the world in which he listed three hundred 

 and forty-three kinds. Soon other volumes ap- 

 peared, adding more species, and systematists 

 everywhere have been describing new ones until 

 now the total number of described species is prob- 

 ably over five hundred, more than sixty of which 

 occur in the United States. 



This shows only one phase of the great interest 

 that has been taken in the mosquitoes since the 

 discovery of their importance as carriers of disease. 

 Not only have they been studied from a systematic 

 standpoint but an endless amount of work has been 

 done and is being done in studying their develop- 



than they have been in the past, but 

 when Linnaeus in 1758 made his list of 

 all the animals known to exist at that 



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