'The Mosquito Tries to Teach His Neighbors' from Among the Meadow People by Clara Dillingham Pierson
In this meadow, as in every other meadow since the world began, there were some people who were always tired of the way things were, and thought that, if the world were only different, they would be perfectly happy. One of these discontented ones was a certain Mosquito, a fellow with a whining voice and disagreeable manners. He had very little patience with people who were not like him, and thought that the world would be a much pleasanter place if all the insects had been made Mosquitoes.
"What is the use of Spiders, and Dragonflies, and Beetles, and Butterflies?" he would say, fretfully; "a Mosquito is worth more than any of them."
You can just see how unreasonable he was. Of course, Mosquitoes and Flies do help keep the air pure and sweet, but that is no reason why they should set themselves up above the other insects. Do not the Bees carry pollen from one flower to another, and so help the plants raise their Seed Babies? And who would not miss the bright, happy Butterflies, with their work of making the world beautiful?
But this Mosquito never thought of those things, and he said to himself: "Well, if they cannot all be Mosquitoes, they can at least try to live like them, and I think I will call them together and talk it over." So he sent word all around, and his friends and neighbors gathered to hear what he had to say.
"In the first place," he remarked, "it is unfortunate that you are not Mosquitoes, but, since you are not, one must make the best of it. There are some things, however, which you might learn from us fortunate creatures who are. For instance, notice the excellent habit of the Mosquitoes in the matter of laying eggs. Three or four hundred of the eggs are fastened together and left floating on a pond in such a way that, when the babies break their shells, they go head first into the water. Then they——"
"Do you think I would do that if I could?" interrupted a motherly old Grasshopper. "Fix it so my children would drown the minute they came out of the egg? No, indeed!" and she hurried angrily away, followed by several other loving mothers.
"But they don't drown," exclaimed the Mosquito, in surprise.
"They don't if they're Mosquitoes," replied the Ant, "but I am thankful to say my children are land babies and not water babies."
"Well, I won't say anything more about that, but I must speak of your voices, which are certainly too heavy and loud to be pleasant. I should think you might speak and sing more softly, even if you have no pockets under your wings like mine. I flutter my wings, and the air strikes these pockets and makes my sweet voice."
"Humph!" exclaimed a Bee, "it is a very poor place for pockets, and a very poor use to make of them. Every Bee knows that pockets are handiest on the hind legs, and should be used for carrying pollen to the babies at home."
"My pocket is behind," said a Spider, "and my web silk is kept there. I couldn't live without a pocket."
Some of the meadow people were getting angry, so the Garter Snake, who would always rather laugh than quarrel, glided forward and said: "My friends and neighbors; our speaker here has been so kind as to tell us how the Mosquitoes do a great many things, and to try to teach us their way. It seems to me that we might repay some of his kindness by showing him our ways, and seeing that he learns by practice. I would ask the Spiders to take him with them and show him how to spin a web. Then the Bees could teach him how to build comb, and the Tree Frog how to croak, and the Earthworms how to burrow, and the Caterpillars how to spin a cocoon. Each of us will do something for him. Perhaps the Measuring Worm will teach him to walk as the Worms of his family do. I understand he does that very well." Here everybody laughed, remembering the joke played on the Caterpillars, and the Snake stopped speaking.
The Mosquito did not dare refuse to be taught, and so he was taken from one place to another, and told exactly how to do everything that he could not possibly do, until he felt so very meek and humble that he was willing the meadow people should be busy and happy in their own way.
Like fireflies, butterflies, and bees, mosquitoes are insects. The word mosquito means "little fly" in Spanish. Mosquitoes start their lives as eggs nestled together in a boat-shaped egg basket. The larvae, or wrigglers, hatch through the bottom of their eggs into the water. The wrigglers hang to the surface of the water by opening their star-shaped valves and allowing air to fill their breathing tubes and tracheae. The wrigglers sweep decaying vegetation into their jaws with the help of their mouth brushes. When touched, wrigglers close their star-shaped valves and sink into the water to defend themselves. Wrigglers swim with the assistance of finger-like projections and hairs. Wrigglers grow into pupae, developing large heads, and they stay at the surface of the water for long periods of time. Unlike moths and butterflies, whose pupae remain still, mosquito pupae can move. Eventually, pupae split open, adult mosquitoes emerge, and the adults float on their pupa skins while their wings dry. Adult females live a week or two, and adult males survive several days. Only the female mosquitoes sing and bite. Females sing to attract mates by rapidly vibrating their wings. Females use a tube, called a proboscis, to pierce human skin and sip blood. Females need this blood to develop eggs. Males have wide, feathery antennae, which they use for hearing. In contrast to males, females have long, spindly antennae.
Vocabulary
Wrigglers: The larvae of mosquitoes. Pupa: An insect in its inactive immature form between larva and adult. Valve: A device for controlling the passage of fluid or air through a pipe. Proboscis: An elongated sucking mouthpart that is typically tubular and flexible.
Concepts
Did you know mosquitoes can be deadly? Mosquitoes carry several diseases that threaten humans including malaria, Chikungunya, West Nile virus, dengue fever, and Zika virus.
Techniques that help reduce the mosquito population include:
Covering containers holding water such as rain barrels.
Draining stagnant pools of water on your property.
For larger pools or ponds that cannot be drained, introducing mosquito-loving fish such as minnows, sticklebacks, sunfish, and goldfish.
Enrichment
Activity 1: Narrate the Story
After reading or listening to the story, narrate the story events aloud using your own words.
Activity 2: Watch the Video
Watch the video to see and hear a mosquito.
Identify its head, thorax, abdomen, wings, antennae, legs, and proboscis.
Examine the antennae to determine whether this a male or female mosquito.
Does this mosquito really buzz like the audio in the video suggests?
Activity 3: Classify the Animal
Mosquitoes are animals, invertebrates, arthropods, and insects.
Trace which categories mosquitoes fit into on the classification chart.
Activity 4: Grow Your Own Wrigglers
Place a large plastic container outside, and keep it filled with water.
Once the wrigglers emerge, observe them with a hand lens. Write the answers to the following questions in your field book:
Do you see both larvae and pupae? How can you tell the difference between the two?
Where do larvae rest when undisturbed?
Do larvae rest head up or head down?
Is there any part of the larvae which comes to the surface of the water?
Observe larvae resting at the top of the water with a hand lens.
Can you see the mouth brushes? Draw them.
Do you see the long hairs along the side of the wriggler's body?
Do you see any wrigglers at the bottom of the container?
Activity 5: Color and Label a Mosquito
Click the crayon above. Complete page 11 of 'Science Field Book for Second Grade.'
Activity 6: Take a Nature Walk
Take a nature walk, locate a mosquito or other animal to observe, gather data and notes, and use that information to create a field book entry. You may wish to take a pencil and a small notebook to jot down sketches and observations. If you can't find a mosquito, you may sketch a different animal or make a sketch based on the video in Activity 2.
Before you take the nature walk, review:
The field book template you'll later complete on page 12 of 'Science Field Book for Second Grade.'
The suggested list of observations below.
Behavioral observations include:
How does the mosquito move?
How does the mosquito eat?
What does the mosquito eat?
How does the mosquito sense the world?
Habitat observations include:
Does the animal live in a forest, a field, a town, or near water?
In what type of climate does the animal live (e.g. temperate, tropical, arid, arctic)?
In what type of house does the animal live?
Appearance observations include:
What colors are the wings and body?
How many legs does it have?
How many antennae does it have?
Activity 7: Complete a Field Book Entry
Click the crayon above. After your nature walk, complete page 12 of 'Science Field Book for Second Grade.'
Review
Question 1
What is the purpose of breathing tubes in wrigglers?
1 / 10
Answer 1
Breathing tubes are used to distribute air to all parts of wrigglers. Breathing tubes also help wrigglers float.
1 / 10
Question 2
How do wrigglers prevent their breathing tubes from filling with water?
2 / 10
Answer 2
Wrigglers close their star-shaped valves to prevent water from filling the tube.
2 / 10
Question 3
How do mosquito pupae look different from mosquito larvae?
3 / 10
Answer 3
Mosquito pupae have much larger heads than larvae.
3 / 10
Question 4
How do mosquitoes emerge from pupae?
4 / 10
Answer 4
Pupa skins split to allow mosquitoes to exit. Mosquitoes stand on the floating pupa while waiting for their wings to dry.
4 / 10
Question 5
How are mosquito pupae different from butterfly pupae?
5 / 10
Answer 5
Mosquito pupae can move. Butterfly pupae cannot move.
5 / 10
Question 6
Which type of mosquitoes have wide, feathery antennae?
6 / 10
Answer 6
Male mosquitoes have wide, feathery antennae.
6 / 10
Question 7
Which kind of mosquitoes sing and drink blood?
7 / 10
Answer 7
Female mosquitoes sing and drink blood.
7 / 10
Question 8
Why do female mosquitoes drink blood? Why don't males?
8 / 10
Answer 8
Female mosquitoes drink blood to produce eggs. Males don't produce eggs, so they do not need blood.
8 / 10
Question 9
How do female mosquitoes sing?
9 / 10
Answer 9
Female mosquitoes sing by rubbing their wings together.
9 / 10
Question 10
List two ways you can prevent mosquitoes from growing in a stagnant pool of water.
10 / 10
Answer 10
You can drain the pool of water or fill it with mosquito-loving fish.
What is the purpose of breathing tubes in wrigglers?
Breathing tubes are used to distribute air to all parts of wrigglers. Breathing tubes also help wrigglers float.
How do wrigglers prevent their breathing tubes from filling with water?
Wrigglers close their star-shaped valves to prevent water from filling the tube.
How do mosquito pupae look different from mosquito larvae?
Mosquito pupae have much larger heads than larvae.
How do mosquitoes emerge from pupae?
Pupa skins split to allow mosquitoes to exit. Mosquitoes stand on the floating pupa while waiting for their wings to dry.
How are mosquito pupae different from butterfly pupae?
Mosquito pupae can move. Butterfly pupae cannot move.
Which type of mosquitoes have wide, feathery antennae?
Male mosquitoes have wide, feathery antennae.
Which kind of mosquitoes sing and drink blood?
Female mosquitoes sing and drink blood.
Why do female mosquitoes drink blood? Why don't males?
Female mosquitoes drink blood to produce eggs. Males don't produce eggs, so they do not need blood.
How do female mosquitoes sing?
Female mosquitoes sing by rubbing their wings together.
List two ways you can prevent mosquitoes from growing in a stagnant pool of water.
You can drain the pool of water or fill it with mosquito-loving fish.
References
Comstock, Anna Botsford. Handbook of nature-study (Twenty-fourth edition). Ithaca, New York Comstock Publishing Company, Inc, 1911.
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