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Mosquito Eater (female)

Toxorhynchites speciosus

Description:

Large species of mosquito. This is a female with the noticeable bent proboscis. Totally harmless to humans. Both male and female feed on flower nectar. Beneficial as this mosquito's larvae feed on the larvae of the blood sucking mosquito species. They make a sound like normal blood sucking mosquitos but much louder

Habitat:

I generally see a single one of these mosquitos in my garden at a time. either resting on a leaf as in the photo or feeding on flower nectar

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3 Comments

JamesPriest2
JamesPriest2 3 years ago

Thank you Neil for the link and the compliment. I had seen the name elephant mosquito before, but it was always listed for another variety from the same family found in Asia. I like the name Mosqutio Eater so I'll use that :-)

Neil Ross
Neil Ross 3 years ago

Cool spotting by the way, James. Great photo!

Neil Ross
Neil Ross 3 years ago

The genus "Toxorhynchites", also called elephant mosquito or mosquito eater, is a genus of diurnal and often relatively colorful mosquitoes.... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxorhynch...

JamesPriest2
Spotted by
JamesPriest2

Saint Marys, New South Wales, Australia

Spotted on Feb 16, 2021
Submitted on Feb 17, 2021

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