The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1911-12-12

Per stmr Kinau, for Kauai ports.
December 12.-Miss p. Berry, James
lar benefits in many widely distribut
ed mosquito ridden centers, so that
there are today few progressive com
munities Of people that are willing to
put up with the mosquito nuisance
On account of the expense, the work
areas, ana it is most essential before
! beginning any work to make a study
of the mosquitoes locally, their habits,
the conditions surrounding their de-
velopment, and their inter-relations
with other forms of life. This was
plainly shown i'm the New Jersey work,
where many communities commenced
Independent work on the assumption
that the prevalent mosquitoes bred in
the immediate vicinity 1t turned out
later that the principal offenders bred
in the marshes miles away and
reached the inland towns by flight or
on favorable winds, so that much local
work was wasted effort. As matter
of fact, the breeding places of the
mosquitoes which make themselves ia
miliar to us are extremely local, but 4
knowledge of their biology gives us
big start in the work of ferTeting out
such places. which often requires con-
siderable perspicacity. In a mosquito
campaign the usual breeding places
are Obvious at once, but to achieve
any real benefit every possible har-
boring place must be gotten at, and
these should be treated in the order OF
their importance as mosquito produc-
ers. do not need to go over the in
exhaustible list of situations in which
mosquito larvae may be found, for
they will be obvious to anyone know
ing the simple requirements for mos
quito Developments little wafer, SUI
fcient warmth and food and the alb
sence of enemies. They range from
the larger bodies of water, such as
rivers, lakes, swamps, ponds and pools
down to water trOughs water butts,
tin cans. caves troughs and water cups
in plants. The principal lines of work
are in the removal, treatment or pro-
lection of possible breeding places:
drainage and filling in to eliminate
natural bodies of water, oiling as a
temporary measure, removal Of Droter-
ton of artificial containers. The de-
tails are rather complex, but are along
the line of sensible procedure to at
tain definite and well understood
end
Only Three Species in Hawaii.
Now | have so far been speaking of
mosquitoes in general. Let me briefly
refer to our own mosquitoes and mos,
quito problems. We have very forum
ately only three species of mosquitoes
in these islands, one culicine, CuleX
: fatigans; and two Stegomyias, S. fas-
ciata and S. scutellaris. Anopheline
or malarial mosquitoes have not yet
p reached us. At the same time we are
in the tropics and our principal towns
are surrounded by immense tracts OF
rather inaccessible land, Our mos
quitoes are introduced species and
: have been here long enough to indi-
cate just about what they will DO.
We are rather in the dark about the
history of the introductions. Pro.
fessor Alexander states that the Gull
: cine was brought here on the ship
Wellington in the year 1926. At the
same time the late Mr. Kirkaldy point
) ed out that Kamakau, one of the older
, Hawaiian historians, states that flies
and mosquitoes were unknown in the
J Hawaiian group until the arrival of
Cooks ships" Q77S-9), implying that
J they were introduced then. Which
. ever date is the correct one, it is GER
tain that this species has been here a
, long time. The exact date of the in
PRODUCTION of the Stegomyias is not
) known, but it occurred during the life
: time of some of the present genera
? ton, They are, so far as ] know, on
all the islands and are quite as preva
lent in the mountains as on the lower
p levels.
3 The Stegomyias are quite distinct in
I appearance from the culicine and have
5 very dissimilar habits, Between them
r selves the Stegomyias are quite alike
l in habit and the differences in the i'm
+ smature forms are microscopic, while