332 



AN ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY. 



To the family Culicidce belong the flies well and unfavorably 

 known as mosquitoes. They are slender, long-winged, long- 

 legged creatures, with a 



Fig. 381. 



Mosquito. — a, adult male ; e, joints of its 

 antennae ; b, head and mouth parts of fe- 

 male, from side ; f, larva, or wriggler ; g, 

 pupa; all enlarged. 



small head, long antennae, and 

 a long beak or proboscis. In 

 the male the antenna are 

 broadly feathered or plumose, 

 while in the female they are 

 slender and with a few lateral 

 bristles only. In the males 

 the piercing mouth structures 

 are not well developed, and 

 they are not capable of suck- 

 ing blood, but in the females 

 the puncturing structures are 

 exceedingly eft'ective. Ex- 

 amined under the microscope, 

 the wings are seen to be cov- 

 ered with scales along the veins. 



The larvae are commonly known as " wrigglers," and may be 

 found at any time during the summer in any pool of stagnant or 

 sluggish water, in water-barrels, cisterns, or even puddles ; in 

 fact, wherever there is an inch or more of water persisting more 

 than a week or two. They are odd-looking creatures with large 

 head and thorax and a slender abdomen, bearing a short tubular 

 structure on the penultimate segment, which serv^es to take in 

 air from the surface of the water. When the larva is at rest it is 

 suspended in the water head downward, the tip of the breathing 

 tube just above the surface. When disturbed it wriggles to the 

 bottom, but cannot remain long without rising to renew its supply 

 of air. The larv^al life is very short, and the pupa, when formed, 

 is bent almost into a semicircle, having the anterior portion 

 curiously enlarged. This stage is also brief, and when the adult 

 is ready to appear, the pupa rises to the surface, the skin splits, 

 and the fly emerges carefully, the cast skin now serving as a boat 

 until the newly-born mosquito becomes sufiflciently hardened to 

 fly away, — a matter of a few minutes only. The eggs are laid in 

 boat-shaped masses on the surface of the water, and float about 

 until the larvae emerg-e, which they do throuo-h the lower end. 



