8 
Mosquitoes and 
insects. For our present purpose it is possible to make a bio¬ 
logical classification of mosquitoes, dividing them into ( a ) domestic 
species, ( b ) stream and pool-breeding species, ( c ) sylvan species, 
(d) swamp and marsh-breeding species. This classification will 
be useful for practical purposes, although, of course, it is not 
exact. 
(a) Domestic Mosquitoes.— Under this heading are included 
those species which are more or less definitely associated with 
man, and breed by preference, if not exclusively, within or close 
to towns and villages. The best example of this group is the 
yellow fever mosquito, but it includes also several of the malaria¬ 
carrying A?iopheles, and Culex fatigccns, the species which is 
chiefly responsible for the spread of elephantiasis, in addition to 
the common house-gnat of Europe which is at times very trouble¬ 
some. The breeding places are to be found in rain-water barrels, 
roof-gutters, cesspools, small puddles, water in old tins, in fact, in 
any collection of water about houses, no matter how small, no 
matter whether clean or foul, to which the female mosquito can 
obtain access to lay her eggs. In temperate regions the females 
of this group live through the winter and commence egg-laying in 
the first warm days of spring. 
(b) Stream and Pool Mosquitoes. —This group consists 
chiefly of the malaria-carriers of the genus Anopheles , the larvae 
of one or other of which are to be found in almost every stream, 
rapid or sluggish, and in nearly every pool, small or large. They 
occur chiefly along the weedy edges, where the grow T th of algae or 
other plants serves at once to provide them with a plentiful supply 
of food and to protect them from the attacks of enemies. 
( c ) Sylvan Mosquitoes. —Here we include a great -number 
of species which have, as a whole, very varied habits, although 
each particular form varies but little, some indeed being among 
the most specialised mosquitoes as regards their mode of life. 
Some live (as larvae) in the water in holes in trees or in the 
broken ends of bamboos; others at the bases of the leaves of 
bromelias, bananas, pineapples and other plants; others again in 
the leaves of pitcher-plants. Although very interesting scientifi¬ 
cally, by far the greater number of these species are harmless; 
many of them do not even bite, but such breeding places in the 
neighbourhood of towns must not be overlooked, as the domestic 
species are liable to resort to them when others are not 
