Volume 1
The mosquitoes of North and Central America and the West Indies / by Leland O. Howard, Harrison G. Dyar, and Frederick Knab.
- Howard, L. O. (Leland Ossian), 1857-1950.
- Date:
- 1912-1917
Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Credit: The mosquitoes of North and Central America and the West Indies / by Leland O. Howard, Harrison G. Dyar, and Frederick Knab. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service. The original may be consulted at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service.
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![mating-habits of two European species of Anopheles. Of Anopheles hijurcatus it is said that the males hover in small flights about the skirts of groves near rivulets in the still evenings of June, and of Anopheles maculipennis, these also fly in small swarms in the evenings of June, when I have taken them paired in the air. In their Eeport of the malaria expedition to Nigeria Annett, Dutton and Elliott give a short note on the swarming of male Anopheles in west iVf rica. But after sunset, clouds of mosquitoes were often observed flying and hover- ing in characteristic flocks in the neighborhood of native huts, about eight feet above the ground. On capturing and examining many of these, all were found to be Anopheles males. F. C. Willcocks has recently published observations, made in Egypt, in the vicinity of Cairo, on the mating-habits of several species of mosquitoes. He points out the difference in behavior of the different species in an interesting manner. The aerial dances performed by male mosquitoes at sunset are perhaps worthy of note. The males of Culex, spp. dance in columnar form, well in the open, or in some cases, near or above bushes, and from fifteen to twenty feet from the ground. Thousands of individuals may be present in one of these dances, all in extremely rapid movements of limited range. They produce a very audible hum. The males of Cellia [ — Anopheles'] pharoensis dance as a rule in the open, but much nearer to the ground than Culex, nor do they collect to- gether in such large numbers. Their flight is also much slower. The aerial dances of the males of Grabhamia '[ = A'edes] ivillcocksii are again different. They appear almost invariably to take place close to bushes, under trees or sheds; the males fly backwards and forwards with a slow and easy flight, about three feet from the ground, columns not being formed. One rather striking fact con- cerning these aerial dances is the comparatively small numbers of females which join them in order to pair with the males. An overlooked paper by Wahlberg, published in 1848 (Ofversigt Kongl. Vetenskaps-Akad. Forhandl., v. 4, p. 257) describes the mating-habits of far northern mosquitoes, undoubtedly belonging to the genus Aedes, as follows: It has been noted as strange, that the males of mosquitoes {Culex) are only found in very small numbers in the extensive moors of the far north, where the bloodsucking females surround and attack the traveller in numberless swarms. Eev. Lsestadius of Karesuando has informed me that these males are often found on the surface of the lakes, beaten down by rain or wind, in such endless numbers, that, when blown ashore, they form thick windrows. One wonders then why they are not observed more commonly together with the females. I have recently had opportunity to convince myself of the reason for this, during my stay at the ' Great Oive ' mountain. On the top of this mountain we were surrounded and pestered by female mosquitoes in great numbers, but not a single male was observed until I became aware of a loud singing noise, which on investigation was found to be produced by immense swarms of mosquitoes high up in the air, dancing in separate flocks. On examination these swarms were found to consist nearly exclusively of males. This indicates that the males of the Culex—like those of Chironomids and some other non-biting gnats—keep to themselves in a higher stratum of the air,](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b2135716x_0001_0151.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
