earches for water in rain barrels, cans, ditches, ponds, and
stagnant swamps where she lays her eggs either in raft-shaped packets or
singly. When the wigglers hatch they swim about in the water and feed
upon decaying material and microscopic water plants. When the wiggler is
full grown it changes to an active pupa which has a large head and a
slender tail and is more or less coiled. A little later the winged
mosquito escapes. In the rural districts most of the mosquitoes breed in
stagnant ponds, swamps and rain barrels and from these they fly to the
home where they cause trouble. Such places should be drained or
protected with oil or other means to prevent the mosquito from using
them for breeding purposes. Ponds can be freed of the wigglers by
introducing fish or by using a small amount of coal oil on the surface.
The wigglers have a breathing tube which is thrust out above the water
when fresh air is needed and if there is a thin film of oil on the water
this is prevented. Rain barrels can be freed of the pest in this way
also, or perhaps better by covering them with a cloth. The mosquitoes
are most troublesome about the home at night. When one sits out doors he
should keep a smudge going to drive them away while screens will keep
them out of the house at night.

OBSERVATIONS AND STUDY

Collect all the different kinds of mosquitoes you can find and note
difference in size and markings. Do you find the malarial fever mosquito
in your region? Is malarial fever common during the summer and fall? Are
there any old stagnant ponds or swamps near your home? If so, examine
these for wigglers. Examine rain barrels for small raft-shaped packets
of eggs. These resemble small flakes of soot and are difficult to pick
up between your fingers. Take a stick and lift them from the water and
examine them. One packet may contain a hundred or more eggs. Put a few
of these packets in a tumbler of rain water and watch for the wigglers.
At first they will be very small but they grow fast. Watch them come to
the surface to breathe. The tip of the tail is projected above the water
and air is taken in at two small breathing pores or spiracles. Examine
rain barrels for the larger wigglers. What do they live on in the rain
barrel? What do they do when you jar the barrel? Do you find any of the
rounded pupae in the barrel? They are active the same as the wigglers.
If you find pupae, put some in a tumbler of water, cover it with cloth
or a lid