Toxorhynchites
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Toxorhynchites | |
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| Toxorhynchites speciosus | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Diptera |
| Family: | Culicidae |
| Genus: | Toxorhynchites Theobald, 1901 |
| Species | |
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See text. |
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Toxorhynchites, also known as mosquito hawks or mosquito eaters, are a cosmopolitan genus and one of the few kinds of mosquito that do not suck blood. Rather, the adults subsist on nectar and other[clarification needed] natural carbohydrates. Their larvae prey on the larvae of other mosquitoes.
The name apparently comes from the Greek toxo meaning arrow and rhynch meaning snout.
Most species occur in forests. The larvae of one jungle variety, Toxorhynchites splendens, consume larvae of other mosquito species occurring in tree crevices, particularly Aedes aegypti. The adults of these mosquitoes are larger than Aedes and are harmless to humans.
Disease vector or toxin control researchers have suggested that Toxorhynchites mosquitoes be introduced to areas outside their natural range in order to fight dengue fever.
[edit] Species
Toxorhynchites contains 17 species:[1]
- Toxorhynchites bambusicolus (Lutz and Neiva, 1913)
- Toxorhynchites brevipapis (Theobald)
- Toxorhynchites grandiosus (Williston, 1900)
- Toxorhynchites guadeloupensis (Dyar and Knab, 1906)
- Toxorhynchites haemorrhoidalis (Fabricius, 1787)
- Toxorhynchites hexacis (Martini, 1901)
- Toxorhynchites mariae (Bourroul, 1904)
- Toxorhynchites montezuma (Dyar and Knab, 1906)
- Toxorhynchites portoricensis (Roeder, 1885)
- Toxorhynchites purpureus (Theobald, 1901)
- Toxorhynchites pusillus (Lima, 1931)
- Toxorhynchites rutilus
- Toxorhynchites solstitialis (Lutz, 1904)
- Toxorhynchites splendens (Wiedemann)
- Toxorhynchites theobaldi (Dyar and Knab, 1906)
- Toxorhynchites trichopygus (Wiedemann, 1828)
- Toxorhynchites violaceus (Wiedemann, 1821)
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Toxorhynchites at the Walter Reed Biosystematics Unit
- The biology of Toxorhynchites mosquitoes and their potential as biocontrol agents
