482 
The Biting of Mosquitoes 
excited, stabbing with their proboscides through the meshes of the net and 
displaying the utmost eagerness in their fruitless efforts to puncture the 
glass. The females of C. fatigans responded in a similar way, but no 
reaction at all was obtained when the males were tried with the hot 
tube, either with G. fatigans or S. scutellaris, and when males and 
females were mixed in the same net the difference in the behaviour of 
the sexes was very noticeable. 
Neither males nor females paid any attention to the tube when it 
was filled with cold water. To give the two tubes an equal chance, they 
were arranged in a narrow glass cell as in Fig. 3, but this made no 
difference, the insects always going to the hot tube, though with less 
eagerness than when the net was used: this may very probably have 
been due to absorption and conduction of heat by the metal gauze. 
Though there were some differences in the degree of eagerness shown, 
results essentially similar were obtained with the females of Myzomyia 
rossii, Nyssorhynchns fuliginosus, Mucidus scatophagoides, Stegomyia 
guhernatoris, and Stegomyia sugens. 
Only in one case did the presence of the tube produce little or no 
effect. This was with a single female Stegomyia thomsoni, the only one 
available for experiment, and it is interesting to note that my as.sistant 
Mr Sharma failed after several attempts to induce this individual to suck 
blood from his arm, and was of opinion that its proboscis was not strong 
enough for the purpose: its movements certainly looked as though such 
might be the case. 
