Mosquitoes 



81 



along the back and the mosquito gradually and 

 slowly issues. It usually takes several minutes 

 for the adult to issue and for its wings to become 

 hard enough so it can fly. In the meantime, it is 

 resting on the old pupal skin or on the surface of 

 the water, where it is entirely at the mercy of any 

 of its enemies that might happen along and is in 

 constant danger of being tumbled over should the 

 water not be perfectly smooth. 



THE ADULT 



The adult mosquito is altogether too familiar an 

 object to need description, but it is necessary that 

 we keep in mind certain particular points in re- 

 gard to its structure, in order that we may better 

 understand how it is that it is capable of trans- 

 mitting disease. 



If we examine closely the antennae of a number 

 of mosquitoes that are bothering us with their too 

 constant attentions we shall see that they all look 

 very much alike (Fig. 62), small cylindrical joints 

 bearing whorls of short fine hairs. But if we 

 examine a number of mosquitoes that have been 

 bred from a jar or aquarium we will find two 

 types of antennae, the one described above belong- 

 ing to the female. The antennae of the male 

 (Fig. 63) are much more conspicuous on account 



