The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1908-08-15
CANAL ZONE
MOSQUITOES
LARVE OF MANY
SPECIES COLLECTED i.
BY ENTOnOLOCIST
Ninety Separate Kinds Of
Mosquitoes Now Known
to Exist Along the Ca
nal Route-The Yellow
Fever Mosquito Nearly
Observation-Disclosures
Of Warfare Adopted.

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A government bug-hunter has been
down On the isthmus Of Panama col
lecting mosquitoes in the Canal Zone.
He secured larvae of eighty-three spe-
cies, of which thirty species were
new to science. With seven addition
al species already known, this con-
stitutes the largest number record
ed from any one locality On earth.
Anybody who is interested may see
the mosquitoes for himself in the Ma
they have been deposited August
Busck is the name of this scientific
collector who now holds the mos
quito record. He spent three months
on the Isthmus during the mosquito
breeding time, covering the end Of
the dry season and the early part OF
the rainy season.
i has cos, and is costing, lot OF
money to protect the lives of the
men working in the Canal Zone from
the ninety separate species of mos
quitOes now known to exist along
the route of the waterway. Mosqui-
toes do not fly very far from the
place where they are born. They
keep close to their food supply. Those
that affect the inhabitants of a town
or camp normally do not come from
a distance greater than two hundred
yards. It is this fact that renders
the sanitary work of the Canal Com
mission possible.
The land about every settlement is
cleared by the removal OF all brush
underground and grass; only shade
and fruit trees are left, and these
are thinned out to admit sunlight and
and free ventilation. When practic-
able, sWamps and low lands are filed
in with some Of the immense supply
OF material taken from the Culebra
cut. Then the whole area is drained
SO that the surface water will run
of. bitches and slow-f1oWing streams
are kept clear of mosquitoes by drip
pings Of oil or Of copper sulphate.
Swamps and pools are oiled at least
once a week. Water barrels, buck
cts and pals must be screened or
oiled, and all tin cans must be buried.
Even the old CASTOR machines, brush
covered relics of French occupation,
are drained Of their puddles of water.
II many insects infect a camp or
town, it is fumigated. BY carrying
out these methods Of general extermi-
nation exceptionally thorough results
have already been obtained.
One important feat has already
been accomplished. The yellow-feyer
mosquito, the only kind in America
spreading this infection, scientifically
called stegomyia, is very scarce. 1t
is possible to live for weeks on the
line of the canal without seeing a
single specimen. This mosquito Is
a strictly domestic insect. never found
away from man. It breeds only in
artificial receptacles, such as barrels.
water coolers, bottles, tin cans, etc.,
in and around human habftations.
Knowing this, it is we'll within the
power of the authorities to eliminate
absolutely this dangerous insect and
render a yellow fever epidemic i'm
possible on account of the total ab-
sence of the only agent which spreads
It.
The malaria carrying varieties, in
cluded under the general name Of
anOpheles, are also subject to rigor-
Gus attack. Usually the species Of
this group deposit larvae along the
edges of slow-fowing streams and
stagnant pools, but specimens were
also secured from the bottom Of an
old boat, from an abandoned dump
car; from holes In trees and in sim
thar out-of-the-way spots. It has not
yet been determined whether all of
these are instrumental in carrying
malaria, and therefore they may fur
nish a fertile field for investigation.
Certain genera, technically called
megarhinus, psorophora, and lutzia,
were found, which, instead Of spread
ing any disease hostile to men, wage
war on their weaker cousins and at
times even on their brothers and SIS
tiers. They are cannibals Of their
sort.-New York Post.