Further Studies upon Chemical Factors Affecting the Breeding of Anopheles in Trinidad

During the last decade, entomologists have made progress in understanding the environment in which certain insects live; in particular, we begin to understand the effect of certain physical and chemical factors, which make up a part of the environment. With this gain in knowledge, it is sometimes possible to forecast outbreaks of insects and of diseases conveyed by them, and one can sometimes say that a particular alteration of the environment will result in loss or gain. But so far as mosquitos are concerned, one must admit that though much work has been devoted to the analytical study of the water in which the early stages are passed, the results are disappointing. A consideration of the published work suggests several reasons for this. Investigation into the ecology of the mosquito has had a vogue, and much of it has been done by workers who were isolated and whose knowledge of chemical technique and freshwater biology was limited. Apart from that, the inherent difficulties are great, for the worker must hunt for the limiting chemical and physical factors among a host of others which are doubtless unimportant, and there are few clues to indicate which of the chemical constituents of the water affects the mosquito. The data are therefore voluminous and it is difficult to reduce them to order and present them so that they can be readily understood.