Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
This is a mosquito belonging to the Culcidae family.
It weighs about to to two point five milligrams.
That is about the weight of a pinhead.
All the mosquito families belong to the insect order called Diptera,
which includes flies, mosquitoes, midges and gnats,
One of the most distinctive features of the adult mosquito is the single pair
of wings
Mosquitoes are well known for their role in spreading diseases, such as the West
Nile virus
They are annoying pests to humans, livestock
birds and other vertebrate animals.
Female adult mosquitoes need a diet of blood
so they can produce eggs
They pierce the skin of a vertebrate animal and suck the blood into their
abdomen through their proboscis.
They find prayed by using their eyes,
by detecting heat from animal and human bodies,
by sensing light
and by attraction to certain chemicals.
Male adult mosquitoes have short mouth parts and eat plant nectar.
Males do not feed on blood.
Mosquito larvae are filter feeders.
They strain small particles of organic matter, such as bacteria and
other microorganisms from the water.
Because of their high numbers
mosquito larvae, pupae, and adults
are important food for fish,
birds and invertebrate populations that live in their ecosystem.