Toxorhynchites

We found a total of five Toxorhynchites larvae in a pool containing Culex larvae near Manoa stream (Jan 18, 2018, 21.299882, -157.813210). I haven't seen this genus before; they are possibly T. splendens. These are unusual mosquitoes in that they do not blood feed. The larvae eat aquatic invertebrates including other mosquito larvae and several species were introduced into Hawaiʻi as an attempt at biocontrol of mosquitoes. They are also very large mosquitoes and the genus includes the largest mosquito species.  Thanks to Matt Medeiros and Jessica Mavica for helping me ID them.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *