Gunnison news-champion., 1917-07-20

one that il is only necessary to refer
10 the fact that he is oftentimes
found hanging TO tho surface of the
water by his tail. with his head
swinging downward reminding one of
. a hoy hanging TO q bar by his toes.
/ Indeed. the mosquito does not hang
by his tail after all, for that tail-like
affair is his breathing tube through
which hr br.ath"- the air from above
the water This tube enters the body
at the eighth abdominal segment and
is sub-branchcd in such manner as to
admit the oxygen 10 all tissues of the
body. After the wigglcr gets good
long breath. he then proceeds to dive
about in search OF small plants and
animals which constitute his food. II
has oftimes been said and | have
heard il in Gunnison, that mosquitoes
can "brccd" in damp places and in the
meadows where there is no standing
pools Of water. One can clearly see
the absuriity of such an assumption
when the life habits of the "wigglc-
tail" is distinctly aquatic. He may
require only q very few drops Of wa
ter but if that disappears, no matter
how much mud is in the pool our Mr..
Wigglers passes into the world OF thel
dead.
The "wiggle-tails" are such hardy
eaters that they grow too fast for
their skin and must throw it off fcr a
new and softer one. This process,
which is called molting, takes pac
four times during his life time of
from one to four weeks.
PUPAE-After the fourth mol, the |
larvae of "wiggle-tail'' rolls up into a |
ball-like affair called the pupae In |
this form he can travel about bur
never eats. Now he has two trumpet I
like breathing tubes instead of one
and of course must still come to the /
surface of the water to breathe. At /
ter living in this stage from four to
six days, we see this little animal /
always staying close to the surface |
of the water with his back almost out.
for he has 4 peculiar feeling that
something unusual is going to hap
pen. And about that time great
crack splits down his back and full-
grown mosquito slowlycrawls out of
his floating boat, and after his Wings
straighten out, flies away. The least
rifle may overturn the boat and
cause the instant death of this young
babe. No doubt there are millions
who meet this very sad fate every
day in the ripping bitches of our
civilized city.
ADULA-The next time you are
sitting in your lawn swing enjoying
the beautiful sunshine and the pleas
ant exercise fighting mosquitoes,
cease your cruelty for moment and
make close study of your enemy.
If you were further south in the low
lands you might expect to find many
of these little creatures well decor
ated with white bands around their
body and legs, in which case YOU
would conclude that your worst enemy
the yellow fever mosquito was at
ter you. You will note. that while |
your little enemy is sucking your life
blood he holds his body parallel I'll
your hand, all legs being about the
same length and in the same po-
sition. Instead of feeding in this po-
sition, if the members of the first
spring invaders should stretch out
their hind legs while feeding, thus
forcing their abdomen high in the air
remaining almost on their heads dur
ing their entire meal, the mosquitoes|
would very shortly be eliminated frosn|
our punished village. In the mean-
time, however, many of our citizensl
would, in all probability, fall victin
to malaria. It would make little az.
ference whether or not all the ell
zens cooperate in the war on ~
anophlles 1.-THE malaria mosquitol "a
he should make his appearance So
year, as the state laws, backed by ~
state board of health, would al I
every man, woman and child into 5;
vice and the battles would rage =
every member Of the anopheles q y