August 20th is World Mosquito Day. This day commemorates this day in 1897 when Sir Ronald Ross discovered the link between mosquitos and malaria. I would like to buzz through a few mosquito books I have.
My first book is “Mosquitoes-how they live; how they carry disease; how they are classified; how they may be destroyed” by L.O. Howard published in 1901. This is an early book on the subject of mosquitoes, and is an enjoyable one.
I enjoyed the studies they did on mosquitoes. It turns out that the mosquito injects saliva into the bite wound. When our bodies release histomines chemical to the wound, that is what raises up the skin and causes discomfort.They say that there is even a poison gland next to the salivary gland in the mosquito’s head. It is amazing what they could see and discover in 1900. It gets worse when the mosquito is infected with viruses or parasites.
The author also talks about ways to prevent, and kill large populations of mosquitoes in neighborhoods. There are hints on what type of small fish really eat mosquito larvae, along with bats, dragonflies, and Nighthawks. It was also understood back then about small pools of water, recommending to get rid of them, or using kerosene. Howard also spends a good amount of time discussing Malaria, Yellow Fever, and other tropical diseases. There are line drawings of various types of mosquitoes. His studies are pretty unusual. He even talks of Mosquito songs.
I looked up mosquitoes in my four volume set of “Hutchinson’s Animals of all Countries” published in 1920. It also discussed the life-cycle of the mosquito, and had plenty of pictures.
Seems that only the females of the mosquitoes are blood-sucking bi____s. I hate ’em, and they love me. I carry a little plastic container of .05 oz Premium Maxi Deet insect repellent from Sawyer on all my trips, and when camping. It may be overkill, but kill is what it does.
I have a great mosquito book in my kids section of the library. It is “Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears” by Verna Aardema, 1975. This is a re-telling of an old West African Tale.
In it, the King of the Forest-the Lion, found out that “the mosquito who annoyed the iguana, who frightened the python, who scared the rabbit, who startled the crow, who alarmed the monkey, who killed the owlet-and now Mother Owl won’t wake the sun so that the day can come;” and now the mosquito keeps whining in people’s ears “Zee! Is everyone still angry with me?”
It is a good book to read to kids. Thanks for buzzing along for the stories.
Librarytomes 