xt7zgm81mj29 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7zgm81mj29/data/mets.xml   Kentucky Agricultural Experiment Station. 1901 journals kaes_bulletins_096 English Lexington, Ky. : The Station, 1885- Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Kentucky Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin n.96. text Bulletin n.96. 1901 2014 true xt7zgm81mj29 section xt7zgm81mj29 _ K E N T U C K Y
  AGRLUULLURAL LXPLRLAALNL SLALIUN ee
=. State College of Kentucky  
BULLETIN N0. 96. »
is I. The Hessian Fly. P
1.L 2. Dangerous Mosquitoes in Kentucky. A 
LO 3. Poisonous and Edible Mushrooms. E A
‘S» , `  
I3
  LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY,
  November, ugou. »
 T 191
E A

  in  Zi? `. [ ;
·   KENT U CKY
.   Agr1cultural Experiment Statmn.
 >  s`
7 P K
` Z
 -   BOARD OF CONTROL.
}   THOS. TODD, Shelbyville, Ky.
1 . T. NOBLE LINDSEY, Frankfort, Ky.
  D. F. FRAZEE, Lexington, Ky.
]. K. PATTERSON, President of the College.
M. A. SCOVELL, Director, Secretary.
, ; STATION OFFICERS.
i   M. A. SCOVELL, Director and Chemist.
; . M. P T R. .
5 , A E E } Chemists.
' II. E. CURTIS, .
— II. GARMAN, Entomologist and Botanist.
2 . C. \V. MATHEWS, Horticulturist.
3 ]. N. HARPER, Agriculturist.
. W. H. S H RFFIUS, .
C E } Ass't Chemists. _
I L. O. BEATTY,
¢ ii R. M. ALLEN, Clerk, Food Division.
. l J. D. TURNER, Secretary to the Director.
` ·‘ ]. O. LABACH, Chemist, Food Division.
_ GEO. ROBERTS, Ass’t Chemist.
T. L. RICHMOND, _ _
I · } Asst’s to Entomologist and Botanist.
_   . MISS M. L. DIDLAKE,  _
l- S. D. AVERITT, Ass’t Chemist.
i g Address of the Statio11—LEXINGTON, KY. ,
. NOTICE. i
The Bulletins ofthe Station will be mailed free_ to any citizen of `Ken— i~
, tucky who sends his name and address to the Station f ir tha\",purpose. _
[ Correspondents will please notify the Director of changes iii their post-
i V oiiice address, or of any failure to receive the bulletins. ‘
Aoonessz ‘
i l{ENTUCKY AoRrcUr:rurd degree of certainty, is that little bodies
(amcebulae) given off by these parasites are the migrating
buds by which tl1e parasite is disseminated.  
But how do they make their way into tl1e blood of healthy {
human beings? It has long been well known that somehow _ `
living in the vicinity of swamps is likely to lead to intermittent ‘·    
fevers, and the term malaria itself implies a contaminated at- . g
mosphere, it having been assumed that some emanation from  
decaying vegetable matter present in such situations was re-  
sponsible for the trouble. Witliiri tl1e past five years I have  
heard a trusted physician assert that these fevers were the re-  
suit of H11llZ`t5Ill3.H by which he meant bad air from swamp land. i
Bacteria and theirlike he held in contempt as the creations
of disordered minds. .
/i]l·(lSNll1 N0! {he Cause ry'/lguc.——It has been proved quite
recently that a man may live in the most notoriously malarious p
regions in the world and enjoy perfect immunity from inter- i_
mittent fevers, while people all about him are suffering from
them, provided he stays in doors at night shielded from em-
anations given off by surrounding swamps only by wire gauze
on open windows and doors. He may go abroad freely during gk;
the day, actually living in the swamps and breathing all the
time the "mias1natic" air, yet remain in perfect l1ealtl1. His  
freedom from disease is due to the fact that the parasites men-  
A tioned above as living in our blood are sucked up by ntoequi-  
toes belonging to the genus Anopheles, and after undergoing  
· some changes in the bodies of these insects are discharged into ‘ ‘
the blood of those who may later be attackedlby the infected Lg
insects. _ Since the insects are activeiat night while their vic-  
tims sleep, the presence of wire gala on doors and windows
` keeps the disease away. , _
While the reason for this protection, and proof that. it is
` i such, are recent aquiisitions, aibeliefithat occupants of houses _
closed at night with close—nieshed wire gauze or mosquito bar

 V  
» .  ` T [ L
if 202 n Bulleiin Nb. 96. i
i  ” were exempt from malaria has been current in some parts
  of the world for many years. Dr. Nuttall in his review of
i i · literature relating to insects as carriers of disease mentions
    several medical writers who claimed during the early part of
  the nineteenth century that veils and other cloth coverings
  employed at night warded off the disease, and quotes Oldham
  as authority for the statement that certain hunting and fishing
1 natives of India wrap themselves from head to foot in a fabric
l of some sort and thus protected spend the nights in boats
if among the reeds of marshes, without suffering any harm.
, ‘ All these facts and beliefs are now to be accepted as confirm-
i   ing the results of recent experimental work done on the noto-
’   riously malarious Roman Campagna by Doctors Sambon and
;   Low of the London School of Tropical Medicine. These
gentlemen, as has been frequently stated of late in newspa-
pers and other periodical literature, constructed in the latter
  T part of tooo, in one of the worst parts of the Campagna, a mos-
i quito-proof house in which they dwelt, going indoors each
` evening at six o’clock and remaining there until the next
{ i morning. During the day time these men went abroad as did
V . everybody else in the vicinity, exposing themselves in every
A _ way to infection, even allowing themselves to be drenched to
I the skin with rain, yet were never attacked by malaria; The
malaria mosquitoes were observed by them to come each night
g _ » and endeavor to get through the wire gauze with which the
:_   windows and doors of the house were guarded. The experi-
;   ments, and those of Italian investigators, have been so widely
Q Q made known that it is unnecessary to go further into details
` · than to state the additional fact that malaria has now been 4
.. produced in people who had never before been attacked by the
disease and were at the time of taking it living in a non—ma- `
, larious region, simply by allowing them to be stung by a T
Y r mosquito of the genus Anopheles that had previously sucked
blood from a person suffering from the disease. ·
‘ MOSQUITOES WHICH COHVEY MALARIA.
The common mosquito of dwellings in Kentucky does not ‘
carry the parasite which causes intermittent fevers. It has
il · .. ..-.

 l l
Dangerous Zllosguiigzes in [{e1ziz¢c/gy. 203
been exceptionally abundant during the two or three years `
past, at Lexington, yet malaria is not a common disease here,
indeed is not common taking the State as a whole, and as com-
pared, for example with the swampy region about Charleston, `
South Carolina. Our mosquito is active at all times during
the day, and continues active when lamps are lighted in the .\
evening. During moonlight nights it may prove annoying  
in bedrooms, but it requires some light, and its attacks may ig
be almost entirely avoided at night by darkening sleeping ~_ L
apartments. It remains about dwellings and out—houses at "   e,
all times after becoming adult, and undoubtedly passes the  
winter there. ’·i.
The malaria mosquitoes, on the other hand, are not active I _
during the day time, enter dwellings only at night, and while  
individuals are sometimes found upon the walls of rooms dur- _  if
ing the day, they are probably in most cases those that have
failed to find their way out again when day appeared, or are
such as have been rendered sluggish from engorging them- ·
selves with blood. They appear, in short, to be insects of
the primitive woods and marshes, which prowl around human ,
abodes at night much as does the coyote and other wild beasts .
in thinly settled countries. Our ordinary mosquito is as
much at home about dwellings as is the common housefly.
Occasionally mosquitoes of the genus Anopheles are to be
found in houses about Lexington, but are relatively rare insects, kg
are very shy, show not the slightest disposition to attack dur-
ing the day, and in all probability not one man in 2 5,ooo has  
_ has ever seen one to know it. We have two species of the  _!
genus, both of which are larger than the common mosquito,  
and have longer legs. They can be recognized when at rest {
C by the fact that they are disposed to lift the abdomen in such   it
a way that it forms a straight line with the beak; sometimes `ré
the abdomen is elevated so as to give the insect an appearance
` of standing on its head after the manner of an acrobat. In
all ordinary mosquitoes the abdomen is held parallel with the
surfaces upon which they rest, and there is an abrupt down-
I A ward descent along the front of the thorax to the head. .
These differences of posture are quite characteristic, and will
I
{

 ._ V  
i L I 204 Bu/leliwz N0. 96.
,_  i enable one to recognize members of the two genera more
 , readily perhaps than anything else.
 ·   , It happens that both of our species have tl1e wings marked
  with black, while none of tl1e common species are so marked.
  In one of them this character is liable to be obscured in old
t ` individuals by the wings becoming worn. Another character
Q i separating the malaria mosquitoes from the others is more im-
if portant than those mentioned, but unfortunately is not so
o easily made out. At each side of the beak in the female of
. the common mosquitoes is a short, jointed feeler (palpus), less
  tl1an a fourth of tl1e length of tl1e beak. In the malaria mos-
i   quitoes this structure is about as long as the beak.
  TWO KENTUCKY SPECIES OF ANOPHELES.
V i The two species thus far observed in this State are de-
_ scribed below in as simple language as possible, with a view
i i to aiding in their recognition where they occur. It is probible
i that at least one additional species will be found here, and I
— - shall be under obligations to any one who will send species of
, . the genus to the Station from his locality, simply placing
* I them alive in a vial and enclosing tl1is, packed in cotton, in a
~_ U small box.
` _ /17lOf/lf/ES jhzmc/1]2e·mzz`s, Say.—Length of body, one—fonrth
; inch; wing also one fourth inch long; beak a little less than
, . ' one—eightl1 inch longf Legs very long. Color in general
t   blackish brown. Eyes green. Top of l1ead between eyes
_   with rather long gray hairs. Proboscis brown, except at ex-
’   treme tip, which is whitish. Feelers (palpi) as long as tl1e
i . proboscis, brown, except tips, which are pale, Antennae gray. ·
\Vings with 1nucl1 black, especially along the front margin,
if with two noticeable bnff—yellowr dots, one, larger, at the be- _
ginning of tl1e outer three-fourths of the front margin; the
y I other, smaller, near the tip. The black follows the veins chiefly,
- i and is interrupted in places by pale regions. Thorax brown
‘ On the sides and beneath, with a well defined gray region ex-
i tending tl1e whole length of tl1e upper (dorsal) side. Legs
brown, excepting at the extreme tips of the femora and tibiae, _ V
which are pale. Abdomen brown, with pale hairs; beneath,
with a row of gray dots at each side.

 P t
Dangerous Mosqz¢z'loes in ](e11t1¢ek_y. 205
This is one of our largest mosquitoes, and is to be known
from any other species occurring here by the black and buff
markings of its wings. Wlieii it alights it does not always
elevate the abdomen, but is generally found with this division i
of the body held at a more or less decided angle from the
surface on which it rests, the beak commonly projecting in a  
straight line with the rest of the body. It has in my expe- ,`
rience proved a shy insect, being more diihcult to capture than I
common mosquitoes, from its habit of darling off suddenly _, \.
when one approaches. I have never seen an engorged speci-.    
men. ‘  
It hibernates as an adult in caves. being found there from .i'
September until ]anuary, associated in some cases with the ,.:
brown mosquito known in the books as C11/expzmgms. A  
single individual has been obtained by me in a cellar in 4
October, from which circumstance it is probable that it hiber-
nates also in the cellars of country dwellings, as well as in
crevices about cliffs. I
Anopheles 7/l(I[Z([Ip€7Z7lI·S, Meigen.—Length of body a little
less than one-fourth inch; wing equaling body inlength. Legs V
very long. Gray, obscnrely marked. Eyes brown in preserved {
specimens, margiued with pale above. Top of head between
eyes with gray hairs, with a golden lustre in some lights. Pro-
boscis black, with some pale hairs at tip. Feelers (palpi) as gp
lo·ig as proboscis, black, with pal; hairs at tips. Antennae gray. lb
Vi/ings appearing unmarked in some specimens; in well pre-
served specimens with four very small black dots, one nearly  i
. central, another nearer the base and front margin; two other  
smaller ones about midway between the central dot and the  
q apex of the wing. Thorax black, with gray hairs, showing · R
golden in some positions. Legs black. the feinora and tibiae LA
tipped with pale yellow, Abdomen with the divisions gray at  
the base, and black behind; everywhere with golden hairs.
A smaller insect than the preceding, and more obscurely
colored. Likely to lwevinie-taken for the ordinary mosquito,
. but assumes the characteristic posture when at rest and pos- _
esses all the other characters of the genus. Observed by me
!

 . I   ’
 "   YV`[
`   206 Bu//efin N0. 96.
V   .; 1 I in dwellings at Lexington, but is not common. Have not col-
. lected it in caves.
 ,  V I BREEDING PLACES OF MALARTA MOSQUITOES.
  The reason why these mosquitoes are more common in
  marshy country than elsewhere is because the young wrigglers
yi live in water where they find an abundance of the green scum
 { Z E (algae) that flourishes in marsh waters. But while they are
‘ p always most abundant in such places, the young are known to
L occur also in small permanent pools and even in ditches if these
1 afford them the right kind of food; and they maylthus occur
  in larger or smaller numbers in most localities. They do not,
  however, commonly, live in rain barrels, tubs, and the like,
  with the young of common house-infesting mosquitoes, and
  5 we cannot therefore expect to avoid malaria by doing away
, i with such breeding places about dwellings.
  , TREATMENT.
i The best protection against these mosquitoes is wire screens
` · on such doors and windows as must be kept open at night.
, ; If desirable, these may be removed during the day to allow a.
* A free circulation of air. In non-malarial regions such precau·
3 . tions are not absolutely necessary, even when the mosquitoes
T are present, since it is essential that the mosquitoes become
. contaminated before they can convey the disease. They be-
t · _ come necessary at once, however, when a person affected with
 T the disease comes into a neighborhood. In such case the proper
_ ' procedure is of course to quarantine the sick, keeping him en-
  } closed with wire screens during the night until he is cured. _
· · Unfortunately it is not always feasible to make one’s self safe
T __ in this way, and until the laws require this simpler and better
method, those who have a regard for their health must shield
, themselves from the attacks of the insects.
I r When malaria is about it is well to search the walls of rooms
‘ during the day to detect lurking individuals of Anopheles that
by some chance have succeeded in entering in spite of screens.
Z Rubbing the skin with naphthaline, coal oil, or oil of penny- U
royal, to some extent and for a time deters mosquito attacks,
but can not be depended on entirely for malaria mosquitoes,

 t
Dangerous M0squz'f0es in Kevziucky. 207 j
since it is not practicable to have these materials on the skin
while one sleeps. When one is out in the woods, hunting or
fishing, they will often serve a useful purpose. .
Undesirable pools of water calculated to serve as breeding
places for the young should always be disposed of by draining,
filling or diking, as may be most expedient. Precautions of  
this sort are known to have afforded relief where mosquitoes {
had hitherto been so abundant as to render a region scarcely _ `
habitable. » ° .
Coal Oz`! mz Wafer.-Much has been said in public journals   K
about coal oil on the surface of stagnant water as a means of tf
destroying young mosquitoes. Dr. L. O. Howard, who has  
advocated the use of the oil in this way, traces the suggestion  
back to 1812. He has satisfied himself that oil so used is  
effective. `Where pools are not of value for stock or for fishes, ·
probably coal oil might prove useful in lessening the number
of mosquitoes. In Kentucky, where many farmers are at _
much pains to produce a pond for the convenience and com-
fort of stock, this use of oil is not to be considered, since to be _
effective it would be necessary to keep the surface covered V
much of the summer, and if no other injurious eifect resulted A
it would be very likely to taint milk and butter produced by
cows that