These days mosquitoes are in the news frequently, and for good reason. Mosquito-borne diseases have been on the rise all around the globe lately, and more and more people are learning that mosquitoes are the deadliest animals in the world. When it comes to mosquitoes, many people will insist that they are all the same. Although not all mosquito species transmit disease, it is commonly believed that all mosquito species suck blood and cause itchy welts on skin. However, mosquitoes are far more diverse in appearance and biological function than most people would suppose. The concept of a mosquito that does not suck blood seems ridiculous since this is precisely what mosquitoes are commonly known for. As it happens, there does exist mosquito species that do not suck blood, and some mosquito species look nothing like you would expect. For example, an insect expert recently captured a rare species of mosquito that does not suck blood, but it is the largest mosquito in the world with a wingspan of four full inches.
During August of 2017, Zhao Li, curator of the Insect Museum of West China, discovered a live mosquito specimen belonging to the largest mosquito species in the world. These enormous mosquitoes are known as the Holorusa mikado species, and they are around two inches in length, which is ten times longer than the average mosquito. The particular Holorusa mikado specimen that the man captured was particularly large even for one of these mosquito species. The specimen that was recently captured is a third longer than the average Holorusa mikado species. Instead of feeding on blood-meals, the giant mosquito species prefers to feed on nectar. Adult mosquitoes only live for a few days, which may be why capturing live specimens is such a challenge. Surprisingly, feeding on blood might not be a typical mosquito behavior after all since there exists tens of thousands of mosquito species, but only one hundred of these species feed on human blood.
Are you surprised that this large mosquito species has not yet gone extinct? Did you know that there were mosquito species that never feed on blood?
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