THE MOSQUITO'S BITE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 117, 20 May 1933, Page 7 (Supplement)

THE MOSQUITO'S BITE.

AN OBSERVER'S EXPERIMENT. Tt is the female mosquito that inflicts those objectionable bites from which many of us suffer during the summer. The biting apparatus is marvellously constructed: The female mosquito has a long, straight trunk, terminating in two lobes or sucking lips, writes an expert on natural history. Within this receptacle are five lancets, while a slender one lite into a groove, or slit, which divides the whole trunk lengthways, and permits the complete set of lancets to be withdrawn. When the mosquito is about to set to work she fits the li|>s of the trunk against the skiu and literally bores a hole into the flesh. In order to fully test her ability and its effccts I caught an insect and confined it as a prisoner inside the glasstopped lid from a circular box, tied firmly to my arm. As the six lancets, combined to form a single firm tool, were thrust deeper and deeper into the arm, the trunk became bent in a backward direction, vibrating like a gentlywaving leech iu its act of suction. The slit was tightly closed meanwhile. Its two lips were firmly compressed against the hole from which the blood was oozing, and as the meal progressed it was possiblo to sec plainly, through the thin membrane of the sides of the abdomen, the insect swelling to au abnormal extent and turning a vivid crimson. The piercer, or "biting" instrument, became, completely embedded in the flesh, and then (lie mosquito commenced to "saw" the piercer up and down. Curiously enough no pain was felt while all this was going on. in spite of the fact that the "saw" was about an eight of an inch long.