EDITORIAL. MOSQUITOES.

28th Heavy News, Volume 2, Issue 3, 29 January 1943, Page 1

EDITORIAL. MOSQUITOES.

Just lately we have had more*' to' ‘do with mosquitoes than with Japs and as art of the "Know Your Enemy" campaign we thought perhaps there may be a few points bout our latest enemy that may have been missed. We admit that this is rather nlikely but still perhaps you may find that getting to understand the mpsquito and xis habits a little helps to look at him in a kinder light - maybe I . . The mosquito is an insect - and a lot of other things too, we know. Tnat moans '.e has six legs, a head, chest and body and a pair of wings like all other insects, .e begins life as an egg laid by the female mosquito on the surface of some water .'his water may bo. any size from one single drop to the sea itself. In a few days t-.-*gg hatches snto a thing called a Larva and which yOu will see in pools about tai lace - little fish like things hanging down from the surface of the water, and then ashing off' through the water to hang somewhere else. -As- tho Larva hongs it breath trough an air tube in its tail and if a film of .oil .is spread ever the water o arva dies be cause it can’t breathe but if this is nbt done ’it grows by stages hicli last a varying time into the adult mosquito. The fully grown adult then flips ,ff locking far you. or me, and unfortunately for us our own local mosquito, who spoil .is early life down in the salt marshes, can fly anything up tc fifteen miles or so f tho climatic conditions arc favourable. '.Then ho gets to R.IMq. 'or .’Mosquito .allow’ or wherever his. Target for Tonight’ may be he shelters for the rest, of the lay in some dark corner such as a blanket and waits. Then tonight, just after we • lave squashed the tenth/before going to sleep ho flys cut of that ■ dark fold. in- 'the’ jlankots, settles on a too and begins to tuck in. (Hero wo must' change ’his’ sox as it is only the female whA sucks our blood 1 - so that nasty word you used just now {asn’t very far out ’» after. } all. ) Our female mosquito begins to food by digging a sharp, hollow, noedl’qlikerthing through the skin, and then, bless her little heart, she spits down it. Her spit, contains a yeast like substance which itches like hell' and brings your skin up'DlAbLg rod or white lumps and heaps you' awake half the nigh This toting substancd-bau.qas the blood to gather round tho bite which.for a ’mosaic’ is a good then the bleed can bo sucked’up with the greatest' of ease. Having obtained a twhy full of nice,New Zealand bleed and escaped year flipping hand rhe flys off back to nor.base in th,o salt marshes and eventually lays aero eggs which in their turn grow into more mosaics and so on. It is necessary for the famala mosquito' tc got blhod of am© r?<?*t or hor. eggs ■ don’t form and as she is rather keen on having a family she is fbiriblxr keen therefore to got a food of blbod. And by the way she isn’t interested in your blood group, A. B. or O~br any aether letters af the alphabet, it’s all '.the some to. her. / •