THE GUIDE TO NATURE 
48 
The Birth of a Mosquito. 
We are grateful to “Aquatic Life” 
for lending us the accompanying cut of 
photographs by Herbert M. Hale, 
South Australian Museum, showing 
the birth of a mosquito from the pupa. 
The horizontal line represents the 
surface film of water. The eggs of the 
mosquito are placed upon the top of the 
water in a raftlike arrangement. A lien 
a larva hatches it drops down into 
the water through a sort of trapdoor 
in the bottom of the egg. Later it trans- 
forms to the pupa. Both larvae and 
pupae go to the surface film frequent- 
ly for breathing, but when the time 
comes for the mosquito to emerge the 
pupa skin is left under the surface of 
the water and the full-grown insect 
comes out above it, as is so clearly 
shown in the illustration. 
Those who have a compound micro- 
scope or even a pocket microscope will 
find it interesting to gather the mos- 
quitoes from stagnant water while in 
either the larval or the pupal stage and 
watch the transformation. They may 
be kept in a tumbler or any other small 
glass receptacle. Every one who has 
seen this transformation exclaims over 
it as one of nature’s miracles. 
Xot all we get on mountain top 
Is measured by the eye; 
We feel an uplift, as if Angel 
Wings had brushed us by. 
— Emma Peirce. 
THE BIRTH OF A MOSQUITO. 
Enlarged three and one-half diameters. 
