A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife
Project Noah Nature School
Larva of an unidentified mosquito.
Mosquito eggs, larvae, and pupae are found in standing water. This one was collected from a vernal pool.
This replaces an earlier spotting with an incorrect scale bar.
Spotted on May 30, 2013
Submitted on May 30, 2013
4 Comments
These were pulled from a vernal pool maybe four or five meters in diameter at the time. Once finals are over, I'll have to see what else I can find there (and try harder to keep the critters intact).
Bummer! It's hard to speciate pupae, except with molecular techniques. Although, if it was in the same container, then chances are they are the same. Some mosquitoes are more commonly container breeders while others are floodwater species, etc. One of the first things I look at with larvae is the siphon. I love these larva/pupa pictures - they are so clear and close-up! Great find!
Thanks very much. I'm afraid this is all I have. I accidentally damaged the larva as I transferred it for photography. Also, I never saw any eggs. I have this photo of a pupa, which may or may not be the same species: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/249...
Great shot! Do you have any shots of an entire larva, or of eggs? That would help determine genus and species.