CHAPTER VI

MOSQUITOES 76

Numbers, 76; interest and importance, 76; eggs, 77; always in water, 77; time of hatching, 77; _Larvæ_, 78; live only in water, 78; head and mouth-parts of larvæ, 78; what they feed on, 78; breathing apparatus, 79; growth of the larvæ, 80; _Pupæ_, 80; active but takes no food, 80; breathing tubes, 80; how the adult issues, 81; _The Adult_, 81; male and female, 81; how mosquitoes "sing" and how the song is heard, 82; the palpi, 82; _The Mouth-parts_, 83; needles for piercing, 83; _How the mosquito bites_, 84; secretion from the salivary gland, 84; why males cannot bite, 84; blood not necessary for either sex, 84; _The Thorax_, 85; the legs, 85; the wings, 85; the balancers, 85; the breathing pores, 86; _The abdomen_, 86; _The digestive system_, 86; _The salivary glands_, 87; their importance, 87; effects of a mosquito bite, 87; probable function of the saliva, 88; _How mosquitoes breathe_, 89; _Blood_, 90; in body cavity, 90; heart, 90; _Classification_, 91; _Anopheles_, 91; distinguishing characters, 92; eggs, 92; where the larvæ are found, 93; _Yellow fever mosquito_, 94; its importance, 94; the adult, 95; habits, 95; habits of the larvæ, 95; _Other species_, 96; some in fresh water, others in brackish water, 96; Natural enemies of mosquitoes, 97; how natural enemies of mosquitoes control their numbers, 98; mosquitoes in Hawaii, 98; _Enemies of the adults_, 99; _Enemies of the larvæ and pupæ_, 100; _Fighting mosquitoes_, 101; fighting the adult, 102; _Fighting the larvæ_, 103; domestic or local species, 104; draining and treating with oil, 104; combatting salt-marsh species by draining, 105; by minnows or oil, 105.