The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-10-11

-AiIALA1cAftSs neaQ downward IN the water,
where they hive for some three weeks,
spending the greater part of their time
az OF near the bottom. During this stage
OF their existence they feed upon decay
ing matter and microbes Of various kinds,
rendering useful service to man as sCav-
engers by cleansing sWamps and stagnant
water of the germs which plague man
kind and the lower animals with various
forms Of fever. II the NOSE Nitoes
would kindly conhae their lives to this
stage scientists would regard them as
oenefactors to our race, and the Un-
initiated would be in ignorance Of their
existence. But nature has ordained other
wise.
The larvaI life Of these Insects Is divided
between feeding upon the aforesaid mi
cfo-orSanisms and occasional expeditions
to the surface for air They soon, how
ever cast off their skins and become pu-
pea with greatly enlarged bodies, hav-
ing two broad paddles at the apex, by the
aid of which they make their way through
the water. In this stage, however, they
usually remain rolled Up like ball and
noat upon the surface for the purpose Of
breathing through two respiratory tubes
on the top of their backs. When the
water is disturbed they uncurl themselves
roll over and over from side to side One
of my young friends tells me that these
pupae are called "wiggers,' this name
being taken, l suppose, from their Gu
rious motion in the water.
Although of active habits, like many
other Insects in the pupae stage OF the
metamorphosis, they consume no food,
other than air and what it may contain.
Within. short time these curious forms
of life are called to another sphere of Ia
Dor, the next transformation being as fol-
lows: The skin upon the back of the pupae
splits between the breathing tubes and a
sort of little boat, curved at both bow and
stern, is thus formed. Out of this boat
comes winged insect, it's head and body
first; then its legs are raised upon the
sides of the now empty bark; after that
its wings are spread ready for flight. and
the tiny craft, being upset, sinks into the
water.
Such is the history of the mosquito.
The mosquito family is ultra-cosmopoli-
tan its paradise is in the tropics, where
species are found to which the varieties
indigenous to New Jersey are mere
dwarfs; but some members of this num-
erous tribe have reached the coolest eli
mates, having been found by the Mares
Arctic expedition as far north as man
had then penetrated. The mosquito fire.
quents low-lying countries, yet II is COM
mon upon the Swiss mountains and in the
Adirondack regions, 1000 feet above the
sea level
If the natural breeding places of these
insects could be limited, the multiplica-
ton of the mosquitoes themselves could
likewise be curtailed. When swamps
have ceased to exist, when all stagnant
water is dried up, when marshes have
been drained, when sluggish streams
have been made rapid, when. in fact,
the land of the mighty doIlar"-and all
other lands where these little pests flour
ish-have been transformed into we'll
kept gardens, then the days of mosquitoes
as disturbers of our equanimity of mind
and body will be numbered.
As this Ethiopian condition of the world
is very far distant, it may be well to con-
slider some other methods of reducing the
swarms of these blood-sucking creatures,
viz: The cultivation of their enemies
such as the dragon-fy, the spider, and the
fish called the carp.
1t is curious Illustration of human ig-
norance that two living creatures whose
lives are spent in the service of man
should be so largely under the ban Of
human prejudice. The dragon-fiy is feared
by all women and children and by some
men. Why? cannot tell, for it possesses
no sting, nor does it feed upon blood.
The spider alarms many people, but
| these who hate it, chiefly because it
! causes dirt, are sim more numerous and
yet it is unquestionably true that, We're it
| not for dragon-fies and spiders, the mos
! quitoes and other small insects would
make our lives a burden to US.
| Dragon flies are the natural enemies of
mosquitoes in two stages of life. The war
| commences in the eariest-the larvae
| stage.
| Like the mosquito the dragon-hy owl
! posits In the water, and its young are
! Matched under similar conditions. The
| pupae dragon-hy is as voracous as the
! image (the fully developed insect, and it
! destroys enormous numbers of the aqua
tic larvae and pupae of mosquitoes. In
| the final stage of existence the fairy-like
| "darning needles" as they are sometimes
! called by children, spend their time
| among the flowers. destroying the crea-
| lures which infest them, mosquitoes
| among the number.
There is no difficulty in cultvating the
| dragon-fiy. 1t can be done with little diff
| hculty and without injury to any indus
! try, or to any form of life, except of
| course, the insects upon which the libel
lulidae feed. The cultivation of these
! creatures, even if it did nothing else,
would teach many children-some of
| them of mature years-that this beautiful
| inhabtant of the world is not dangerous
| to mammals.
The use of the libellulidae in the allevia-
| ton of the mosquito pest must, I think,
! be HIa.ted since it is Impossible to keep
! them in the woods, where mosquitoes
abound, the hunting grounds of the
| formr creatures being amongst the flow
/ ers and I'm the sunshine.
Another natural enemy of the mosquito
| and natures greatest check against the
! undue increase of insect life is the spider
/ Spiders are, as far as man is concerned
the principal phlathropist of the insect
world. Although there is a European
| spider Nathrodectus OculatusG with the
reputation Of giving poisonous bite,
! and a New Zealand relative 01allpo)
| whose venom is supposed to have de-
! stroyed the lives of human deings-almost
invariably natives yet the majority of
| the outer araneidea is undoubtedly harm
| less. The tales of the extraordinary re-
suit of the bite of the tarantula, and its
remarkable cure by means Of music af-
| ter prolonged dancing, are inconsistent
| with scientific truth. The bite of the
! tarantula may be extremely painful, but
/ I am unable to find any reliable evidence
| proving that it is dangerous Spiders
! live on insects, and consequently spend
the greater part Of their time in catching
! their prey; where mosquitoes are plenti-
| full they form a great part of the spider s
! daily diet, and the web continues to do it's
! work long after the owners appetite has,