Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 63.djvu/470

466 During a visit to Maine in June, a large number of larvæ of Eucorethra were taken from the spring where the barrel had been sunk. It was noticeable that larvæ of other kinds of mosquitoes were absent, although the adults were very numerous in the immediate vicinity.

The absence of other mosquito larvæ was accounted for when later it was discovered that the larvæ of Eucorethra fed upon the larvæ of other mosquitoes, eating them apparently with great relish. On several occasions fourteen Eucorethra larvæ ate, during the night, sixty Culex larvæ out of the seventy that had been placed in the water with them. When eating the larvæ of mosquitoes smaller than themselves, the victim is caught, shaken violently a few times, and swallowed in a few seconds in very much the same way that a pickerel would catch and swallow a smaller fish.

As yet no experiments have been made to see if this new species will devour the larvæ of Anopheles as readily as they will those of Culex. Whether or not this species will thrive in the climate of southern New England is as yet uncertain, but experiments are now being carried on to determine this point.

Although myriads of mosquitoes are destroyed by the natural enemies which have been mentioned, man should be the most destructive foe of these insects. There is no doubt that the mosquito pest may be very largely abated by the employment of scientific methods for causing its destruction in the early stages of its development.

While it is the duty of boards of health!to recognize mosquitoes as active agencies for the dissemination of certain diseases and to take such measures as are possible for their extermination, the work can never be effectively done until the people of each community are fully informed in regard to the life history of the mosquito so that all may cooperate intelligently to secure its destruction.