The Mosquito by D. H. Lawrence was first published in his book "Birds, Beasts and Flowers" in 1923. This collection is from the peak of Lawrence's poetic exploits. All of the poems are from his experiences in life, although "The Mosquito" is the only one that deals with insects.
D. H. Lawrence
Born David Herbert Lawrence in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire on September 11, 1885. He lived a fairly uninteresting life until the death of his brother in 1902. After that he began to excel in school and became a student teach, this is also the first time he was published. He fell in love with Frieda Weekley, ended up getting exiled and spent the next years traveling throughout Europe with her eventually moving to Taos, New Mexico. It was during this time that "Birds, Beasts and Flowers" was published. D. H. Lawrence had a long history of sickness, from multiple bouts of pneumonia to the tuberculosis which would kill him. It isn't surprising that he would write about the Mosquito during his travels through the world.
Mosquitoes are small flies, members of the family Culicidae. They are known as a nuisance and vectors of disease. The female of many species are blood eaters that feed on the blood of vertebrates. Some of them transmit harmful human diseases such as malaria.
Mosquitoes go through four stages, egg, larva, pupa and adult. In most species the female will lay her eggs in stagnant waters. The first three stages are mostly aquatic and typically last from one to two weeks although a more typical period of development would be forty or more days. Mosquitoes that live in regions that have freezing or waterless seasons will spend part of the year in diapause, in which they delay their development and then carry on when the weather gets warmer or the water comes back. Once they reach adulthood they can live for as little as a week to as long as several months.
Males form large swarms and the females will fly into the swarms to mate. The males feed on nectar while the female hunts out blood. Once she is full she will rest while the eggs are developed and the blood is digested. Once the eggs have developed she will lay them and repeat the cycle. The abdomen of a female mosquito can hold three times its own weight in blood, sometimes they will become so bloated that they can no longer fly.
The saliva of the mosquito works as an anticoagulant making it so the blood will not clot and flow freely into the female's proboscis. This saliva is also the main route which pathogens are passed on. One promising application for mosquito saliva molecules is in response to heart-related diseases, but scientists have still not been able to find the exact functions of all the molecules.
Humans and Mosquitoes
Mosquitoes infect around 250 million people per year with malaria world wide. Each year 2 to 3 million people will die from malaria. Although that is the main disease that causes death that the mosquito is a vector of, there are thousands of others. Dengue fever is the most common cause of fever in travelers going through the tropical regions of the Americas. It is only spread through infected mosquitoes and cannot be caught from people. Other diseases that are spread from mosquitoes include, West Nile Virus, Eastern equine encephalitis virus and Lymphatic filariasis, the main cause of elephantiasis.
Some of the methods that are being used to prevent the spread of diseases include mosquito control and eradication. Disease prevention, such as vaccinations and prevention methods such as insecticides, nets and repellants. Mosquito control will include the removal of stagnant water and importation of natural predators such as dragonflies.
"DH Lawrence." DH Lawrence. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2012. <http://www.dh-lawrence.org.uk/>.
Lawrence, D. H. Birds, Beasts and Flowers. New York: T. Seltzer, 1923. Print.
"The Life Cycle of the Mosquito." The Life Cycle of the Mosquito. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2012. <http://www.mosquitoes.org/LifeCycle.html>.
Devlin, Hannah (February 4, 2010). "Sweat and blood why mosquitoes pick and choose between humans". London: The Times. Retrieved May 13, 2010.
"Mosquito Eradication". Science Today - Beyond the Headlines. California Academy of Sciences. 26. Retrieved 25 August 2011.