Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
Mosquitoes, the Culicidae, are a family of small flies consisting of 3,600 species. The word mosquito (formed by mosca and diminutive-ito) [2] is Spanish and Portuguese for little fly. [3] Mosquitoes have a slender segmented body, one pair of wings, three pairs of long hair-like legs, and specialized, highly elongated, piercing-sucking mouthparts.
Mosquitoes can develop from egg to adult in as little as five days, but it can take 10–14 days in tropical conditions. [16] Males live for about a week, feeding on nectar and other sources of sugar. Males cannot feed on blood, as it appears to produce toxic effects and kills them within a few days, around the same lifespan as a water-only ...
Anautogeny and consequent blood-feeding is seen mainly among the dipteran insects, including mosquitoes, black flies, sand flies, horse flies, and biting midges.Most anautogenous dipterans possess sharp, blade-like mandibles for extracting blood, though these mouthparts are often underdeveloped in the male. [2]
Most specialisation of mouthparts are for piercing and sucking, and this mode of feeding has evolved a number of times independently. For example, mosquitoes (which are true flies) and aphids (which are true bugs) both pierce and suck, though female mosquitoes feed on animal blood whereas aphids feed on plant fluids.
Culicinae mosquitoes are holometabolous, going through four distinct life stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. The duration of each stage is species-specific, but all Culicinae mosquitoes are multivoltine. The egg, larval, and pupal stages are aquatic. Adults leave the water by flight to find plants or vertebrates on which to feed.
Some intestinal nematodes, such as Ancylostomatids, feed on blood extracted from the capillaries of the gut, and about 75 percent of all species of leeches (e.g., Hirudo medicinalis) are hematophagous. The spider Evarcha culicivora feeds indirectly on vertebrate blood by specializing on blood-filled female mosquitoes as their preferred prey. [1]
Discover the latest breaking news in the U.S. and around the world — politics, weather, entertainment, lifestyle, finance, sports and much more.
Toxorhynchites, also called elephant mosquito or mosquito eater, is a genus of diurnal and often relatively colorful mosquitoes, found worldwide between about 35° north and 35° south. Most species occur in forests. It includes the largest known species of mosquito, at up to 18 mm (0.71 in) in length and 24 mm (0.94 in) in wingspan. [1]