The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1882-08-25
The Mosquito.

The Mosquito.
There is another little lady whom you
have fed and regaled on your own *
pense, and very unwillingly withal. S:e
is by no means modest. but steals unbid-
den into your room. She generally her
aids her coming with song that is any
thing but soothing, and She is so per-
severing that even the strong ..bars''
with which you protect yourself are not
proof against her prosecutions. You
have all, no doubt, at times exercised a
little strategy with the mosquito. and
when the little torment was fairly settled.
made 4 deXterous movement of the hand.
and, with a slap, exclaimed: 1--WE got
him this time No such thing, vou
never got him in your life, but probably
have often succeeded in crushing her,
for the male mosquito is considerafe
sri,ffs snap. IN lieu ef the loiercess- Of the
szfszsss s bg IL zlse0sassd witllss~. sikill8
plume, and has sifh love e .home
that he seldom salfies forth from the
swamp where he was born. but contents
himself with vegetable rather than ami
nal juices. Q do not wish to make any
reflections, but in the insect world it is
always the females which sting)
But TO its history. The mosquito was
not born winged fly, and if you will
examine tub of rain water that has
stood uncovered and unmolested for
week or more during any of the summer
months, you may see it in all its various
forms You may see the female support
inc herself on the water with her fo,ir
front legs and crossing the hinder pair
like the letter Y. In this support made bv
the legs she isdepositing her eggs. which
iI,1a IN. r1al-a1
Bv the aid of lens they are seen to be
glued together so as to form lit
tie boat, which knocks about on the
water till the Young hatch. And what
Matched from them? Why, these very
wrigglers which jerk away every time
you touch the water. They are destined
10 live certain period in this watery
element, and can not take wing and join
their parant in her war song and house
inyasions. till after throwing off the skin
O few times, they have become full
grown, and then with another molt have
changed TO what are technically known
as pupe. In this state they are no
longer able to do anything but patiently
float with their bumped backs on the
surface of the water or to swim by Jerks
of the tail beneath after the fashion of
a shrimp or lobster. Atthe end of three
DAYS they stretch ont on the surface Ike
boat. the mosquito bursts the skin and
gradually works out of the shell which
supports her during the critical opera
.ion. She rests with her long lees on
the surface for few moments, till the
wings have expanded and become dry,
and then flies away TO fulfil her mission,
a totally different animal to what she was
n few hours before, and no more able to
live in the water as she did then than are
any of us. Is it not wonderful that such
profound changes should take place in SO
short 4 time? Even the bird has to learn
to use its wings by practice and slow de-
gree, but the mosquito uses her newly
acquired organs of flight to perfection
from the start.
In this transformation from an aquatic
to an aerial life the mosquito has first
brcathed from a long tube near the tail,
next. through two tubular horns neal
the head, and, finally, through a series
of spiracles along the whole body.
From a calculation made by Baron La
tour, the mosquito in flight vibrates lis
wings 3, 900 times a minute "a rapidity
of motion hardly conceivable.
Those who have travelled in summer
on the lower Mississippi or the North
west have experienced the torment which
/ these frail flies can inllict. At times they
/ drive every one from the boat. and train:
| can sometimes only be run with comfor
! on the Northern Pacific by keeping
smudge in the baggage car and the door
/ of all the coaches open to the fumes.
The bravest man ON the feetest horst
1 dares not cross some of the more raul
/ and dark prairies of northern Minnesot;
! in June. 1t is well known that Fathes
/ De Smith once very nearly died of mos
quito bites, his flesh being so swollei
around the arms and legs that it LITERAL,
burst.
Mosquitoes have caused the rout @
armies and the desertion of cities, and
would counsel all who desire to leari
how the hum of an insignificant gnat ma,
inspire more terror than the roar of lion
to consult Kirby and Spencer history q
the former.
There are many species of the mos
quito, all differing somewhat in habi
and season of appearance, and doubles
also, in mode of development, which. il
fact, has been studied in but few. The.
4 occur everywhere, whether in the torr
or the arctic zone, and are nowher
more numerous or tormenting than i
Lapland.
Both the fly and mosquito are grea
scavengers in infancy, the-one purifyin
the air we breath, the other the water W
drink, They perform, in this way, a
indirect service 10 man which few, pei
haps, appreciate, and which somewha
atones for the bad habits in maturity
Irof. c. u Riley.