61 
Habits of Adult Mosquitoes. 
those hours will not entirely save us from their, annoyance, 
because certain species bite at other times, as, for instance, the 
world-wide S. fasciata and the European C. dorsalis ; moreover, 
I have observed Anopheles bifurcatus biting in the daytime 
between 4 and 5 in the afternoon at midsummer, so that 
complete immunity from malaria cannot be obtained by shutting 
oneself up from an hour before sunset. The proper use of mosquito 
curtains when the majority of household pests attack, namely, 
at night, cannot fail, however, to very materially lessen the 
evil. One point brought out by two correspondents regarding 
the habits of Culicidae is very interesting; it is the preference 
mosquitoes, especially C'ulex and Stegomyia, have for dark or black 
clothing. In a despatch from Cayman Islands, Dr. G. Stuart 
Tait, Medical Officer, points out that “ dark clothing has a marked 
attraction for mosquitoes, which may be because of the chemical 
employed in the manufacture.” 
From Dr. St. George Gray a similar note is sent. “ I noticed,” 
he says, “that they (mosquitoes) prefer to settle on dark clothes, 
as the black cassock of the priest and my blue serge trousers, 
whilst they would not alight on my light jacket. This morning 
I caught a few in my dressing-room all resting on dark clothes, 
whilst none were to be found on the light clothes.” This I have 
recently noticed to be the case in some species in England. 
C. dorsalis, I noticed at Rochester, only settled on dark clothes, 
and I have observed frequently that Culex pipiens prefers to rest 
on a dark surface. Mr. J. S. Budgett writes me that when he 
was in the Upper Gambia he noticed “ a very marked liking for 
settling upon certain colours. My clothes were hanging together 
upon pegs. White was avoided. Darker colours preferred. A 
great liking for a purple beaver hat was shown in preference to 
black , but of the latter colour there was little, and this was in 
exposed positions.” Dark clothing should therefore be abolished 
as far as possible in all countries where mosquitoes are an 
annoyance. 
Several observers have noticed that mosquitoes, especially 
Anopheles, are attracted to native huts by the odour the inhabi¬ 
tants emit. Stephens and Christophers observed that when 
natives slept in a tent used by Europeans that mosquitoes 
collected there. When Europeans used the tent two Anopheles 
were found in the morning; on the natives using the tent for two 
days sixty-two were found in the morning. Mr. Budgett also 
writes me that when in Gambia he partly attributed his immunity 
