The Washington times., 1918-06-30
By Rene Bache.
= TOW far can a mosquito fly?

r Tow far can a mosquito fly?
n 1t is a mighty important question,
10 and until now nobody has been able
to answer it.
The answer is that certain species Of
mosquitoes are able to fly forty miles on q
calm day. If helped by wind, they may fly
$50 miles.
1t is long way to go for bite, but the
"skeet" is hungry insect
Recent investigations have proved that
two species Of Jersey mosquitoes-one of
them the famous "gallinipper," with striped
Iegs-have a migratory habit. Breeding ex-
clusively in the salt marshes along the
coast, they fly inland thirty or even forty
miles, seeking blood.
They can accomplish this flight by mere
strength of wing, though an easterly breeze
will accelerate their travel. Thus the pop
ulations of many inland cities and towns
are in the Summer time assailed by swarms
of seashore mosquitoes, so numerous as far
to outnpmber all species locally produced.
This is very discouraging. The local
production of mosquitoes may be checked
by ditching and draining, or by other
means; but how is it possible to deal with
ravenOus focks that come from afar?
Just to find out how far mosquitoes can
fly. or migrate with the aid of favoring
winds. Professor S. C. Ball, of the
Massachusetts Agricultural College, re-
Gently spent month at the Rebecca ShoaI
Light Station, which stands out in the
ocean on a small bank that is a submerged
part of the Florida Reef 1t is a wooden
house, squatting like a huge spider over
the water, the legs OF the spider being
represented by an iron framework bolted
into the rock.
Beneath the house is IL feet OF water
The nearest land is the Dry Tortugas,
twelve miles due west. Key West is
forty-eght miles to the east The nearest
point on the mainland of Florida is Cape
Sable, los miles northeast. Cuba is
ninety-fve miles distant on the south.
Between Rebecca Shoal and Key West
several keys of the Florida Reef inter
vene. or these the largest and nearest
are the Marquesas group, twenty -four
miles to the east, and largely covered
mosquit 5es by millions.
Professor Ball made business OF catch.
ing and counting the mosquitoes that ar
rived at the light STATEN. He got most of
them with a hand net. When the wind
blew from the west he could reckon upon
a few. which came presumably from the
Dry TOrtugas. When it blew from the
east there were sure to be some, most
likely from the Marquesas.
But il was the winds that blew hard
and continuously from the north or south
that brought the insects in flOCks. II was
obvious that under such conditions they
could not come from the east or west and
so il was manifest that they must have
been blown across from the coast OF
Florida in the one case and from Cuba in
the other
Whenever a strong wind blew from the
south mosquitoes in large numbers began
to appear at the light station ten hours
later. The distance from the Cuban coast
being ninety-fVe miles, they must have
travelled abOut.ten miles an hour. When il
blew hard and continuously from due
north considerably more time elapsed be
fore the advance guard of the inevitable
f1Ocks arrived. Why? Probably because
they came all the way from Tampa, ~
miles up the west coast of Florida, that
point being directly north of Rebeccs
Shoal.