CO885-(23-24) — Page 98

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IC.O. 885

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day, in the deep fresh water lake to the west of Famagusta, where the inserts were present along the margins in small numbers. Our next find on the 8th April was in the escape from the water- works of Limassol, where they abounded; and also in the marsh to the west of Limassol, where they were very uumerous in the sheep holes, and also in the smallest dribblets of marsh water amongst the reeds. These insects were of all sizes, from the smallest to the largest larvae. On the 9th April we found large numbers in a big ditch close to the sea at New Paphos. On the 15th April we also found large numbers, but mostly small insects, in the marsh near Syrianochorio, both in gently running waters and in the ooze amongst the reeds. Thus, up to the middle of April I had found anopheline larvae in six different localities, and I may add that my search was largely assisted by Dr. Patrick, Mr. Nicolls, Mr. Francis, and by our moustiquiers, one of whom, Mehmed Aziz, had become very expert at the work.

On the whole, therefore, I conclude that the anopheline breed. ing was only just commencing by the middle of April, and that the inserts were not very numerous then. This agrees exactly with Dr. Williamson's observations. During the whole of my visit I found only two adult anophelines, one at Akhyritou, and one brought to me from somewhere outside Nicosia. The adults, therefore, would be likely to appear in the latter part of April, but not to abound until several new generations had taken place, that is towards the end of May, which also agrees with Dr. Williamson's notes.

It should be noted also that at this season we failed in finding anophelines in the pools in the various river-beds, where, how- ever, they are likely to abound later in the season, when the pools tend to dry up. We also failed to find them in any of the wells, probably because the water was still too cold for them; but, it will be remembered, Williamson found them in shallow wells later in the season, and Dr. Cleveland informed me that he has frequently found them since, even in the deeper wells. We discovered no anopheline larva in the margin of the salt lake at Larnaca, or in many other small waters which otherwise appeared suitable for them; but doubtless these waters will be inhabited at a later season.

season.

Probably all the larve that we found were simply those of Anopheles maculipennis, with the exception of one which hatched out into a Pyretophorus cardamatisi, Newstead and Carter.

While searching for the anoplielines we found large numbers of culicines in all the waters where we found the former, and also in some others where the former are likely to breed at a later The insects hatched out from these larvæ were sent by me to the Entomological Department of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, where they have been identified by Mr. H. F. Carter, S.E.A.C. Dipl. His list of identifications is given in Appendix II. and contains six species which were not mentioned in his previous list (Section 5). Williamson appears to have been quite right in saying that the flush of anophelines is preceded by one of eulicines. There were also some culicines in cess pits at Larnaca; and numerous dixa larve were found in many places.

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As often noted, they are extremely likely to be mistaken for anopheline larvæ.

On the whole I was rather surprised at the paucity of mosquitoes in Cyprus. I had been badly bitten by them at Cordova in Spain on my way out, but was not bitten in Cyprus at all, and scarcely saw an adult mosquito until I went on board ship on my return journey. It will be of interest to add that the breeding seemed to be in a still less advanced condition in Greece in the latter half of April-where I did not see a single insect or larva either in Athens or at Moulki.

The date of the commencement of breeding is a point of supreme importance for Cyprus, because it must limit the principal breeding season between that date and when nearly all the surface waters dry up, say, at the end of May. This would give practically only about two months (April and May) for the whole breeding season. As Williamson says, the autumnal rains in September are mischievous rather than advantageous to the insects, because they flush out the pools that remain at a time when the weather is too cold to be suitable for breeding in the new pools which may be formed. But we must remember that there are certain per- manent waters in the Island in which anophelines breed all through the summer. These are principally:-

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(1) Wells;

(2) Deep pools in river-beds;

(3) Pools formed by ill-managed irrigation—especially by

irrigation from the perennial streams;

(4) Waste waters from stand-pipes and waterworks (such as

that of Limassol);

(5) Cess pits (?);

(6) Cisterns;

(7) Brick pits;

(8) Possibly certain deeper pools in marshes or ditches which

last through the dry weather.

Most of these waters exist only occasionally, but the wells are found almost everywhere, and may be one of the principal sources of the malaria of the Island; though, for reasons to be presently given, I infer that they are not the principal source (Section 10),

9. Some Local Observations.—A complete study of all the seven hundred villages can of course be conducted only by a proper organization working continuously for several seasons; but I may now give some notes of my own.

(1) The plain round Nicosia did not seem to be at all favourable to anophelines, and is in facf little malarious. I ascribe this to the extreme dryness of the plain and to the permeability of the soil. Although all the villages here have wells, the spleen-rates are certainly not high until we proceed in the direction of Deftera or Dicomo, where there are streams. In fact, as a general rule in this district a high spleen-rate is always associated with some local stagnant water in addition to the local wells. The case of Kythrea and Neochorio is particularly interesting, because these villages are supplied by the perennial Kythrean stream, which is used over a large area for irrigation. Yet I found a very low spleen-rate in both villages, even in Neochorio, which is on the flat plain. The

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