402 
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY 
[Yol. 11 
in a similar situation. These mosquitoes were always permitted to 
feed to repletion, after which the palliative was applied to one or more 
puncture spots and comparisons made with the untreated wounds for 
a period of approximately an hour, or until all effects of the mosquito 
punctures had subsided. In these comparisons special attention was 
paid to the amount of itching or pain felt at the treated punctures in 
comparison with the amount felt from the untreated ones. The 
amount of swelling, the size and color of the wheal, and its duration 
also, were observed. 
Errors 
Since in the application of these palliatives it was necessary to rub 
the injured spot somewhat, and since rubbing is known to affect the 
itching sensation, as well as the inflammation of the injured area, it was 
decided to observe the effects of a vigorous rubbing of the wound- 
puncture. 
Abnormal wounds from injured mosquitoes or those evidently de¬ 
ficient in venom were excluded. Three mosquitoes were found that 
were apparently entirely devoid of venom. Their bites were not felt, 
and their presence would not have been detected except by sight, 
although each was allowed to feed to repletion. In such cases there 
was no swelling or discoloration of the skin following the puncture. 
Normal Injury from a Mosquito Bite 
The time required for engorgement to repletion was found to vary 
from one minute and twenty-five seconds to three minutes and twenty 
seconds. o The variation in toughness of the skin appeared to be the 
chief factor affecting it. Aside from the sharp itching pain, that starts 
usually the instant the beak is inserted, no injury is noticed during 
the engorgement. 
A few minutes after (usually about five) the first pain is felt there 
appears, at the point of puncture, a minute white elevated spot. This 
is the beginning of the characteristic wheal. It continues to grow 
and eventually, at the end of from twenty to forty minutes, reaches its 
maximum size. Soon after the wheal appears, the skin around it turns 
reddish. This reddish area increases in size with the development of 
the wheal. From thirty to forty minutes after the bite was inflicted 
the wheal began to diminish. As it diminished it took on a flesh color. 
The reddish area slowly disappears, and within one or two hours all 
noticeable injury is gone. 
Effects of Rubbing 
Rubbing of mosquito bites is almost universally practiced by the 
public and equally universally condemned by entomologists. The 
