The Asian tiger mosquito is a mosquito from the Culicidae family and is infamous as an important vector transmitting several fatal viral pathogens. This mosquito is also known by the names Tiger mosquito, or forest day mosquito. It spreads tropical diseases such as West Nile Virus, filarial nematodes, dengue fever, Yellow fever virus and chikingunya fever.
Table of Contents
Scientific Classification
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Culicidae
Aedes
Table Of Content
Table of Contents
Scientific Classification
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Culicidae
Aedes
Table of Contents
It is a pest in many communities and lives to close to humans.
Scientific Name
The scientific name of the Asian tiger mosquito is Aedes albopictus.
Asian Tiger Mosquito Map
Description
The following is a description of this mosquito which should help in their identification:
Size: The average body size of an adult asian tiger mosquito ranges from 2 to 10mm.
Antennae: the males have a more bushy antenna in comparison to females.
Maxillary palps: the male mosquitoes have longer maxillary palps than their proboscises unlike the females who have shorter maxillary palps. The upper portion of the end segment of the palps is covered in silver scales.
Legs: The hind legs of the males are more silvery than that of the females. The fore legs and the middle legs have white scale rings on the first three tarsomeres.
Thorax: The thorax has a distinct mark of a single slivery white line which continues on the dorsal side as well. There are plenty of spots on the sides of the thorax which are covered in white-silvery scales.
Proboscis: the proboscis is dark in color.
Eyes: they have compound eyes which are neatly separated from one another.
Scutum: this dorsal portion of the insect is black compared to the white midline.
Femurs: each leg has black femur with white scales on the end of the knee. The middle legs do not have any silver line on the base of the upper side. The hind legs show short white lines on base of the upper side.
Asian Tiger Mosquito
Tibia: it is black on the base and contains no white scales.
Terga: the Terga on the segments II up till VI of the abdomen is black with triangular silvery white marks on the base. Also, they are not aligned to the sliver band of scales on the ventral side of the abdomen.
Wings: the wings are transparent with white spots at the base of the Costas.
Behavior
Asian tiger mosquitoes show some typical behavioral characteristics.
It is an aggressive biter.
These mosquitoes usually feed at dusk and dawn and in the late afternoon.
They are more attracted towards carbon dioxide and warm gases that warm-blooded animals emit.
These mosquitoes lie in wait before they attack their victims.
They do not fly more than ½ mile away from their breeding location.
They are weak and low fliers.
They tend to bite the ankles and lower legs of humans.
The pupae of these mosquitoes are active, do not feed but can move about.
Asian Tiger Mosquito Photo
Distribution
The Asian tiger mosquito is primarily found in Southeast Asia. However, now they have spread far and wide across the world, including USA and Hawaii.
Habitat
These mosquitoes tend to thrive in places where there is stagnant water such as in marshes, swamps or enclosed containers with pools of water. They can also be found in rain barrels, tree holes, roof gutters and bird baths.
Diet
They have a broad range of diet.
Male mosquitoes and young mosquitoes feed on plant matter and plant and fruit juices. Female mosquitoes on the other hand drink blood from humans, reptiles, amphibians, wild mammals, humans and birds.
Adaptation
The adaptive features of this mosquito are:
The larvae use breathing siphon to breathe in oxygen and comes to the surface of water frequently for that.
The adult mosquitoes feed with the help of their needle like mouth part known as proboscis.
They have compound lenses, the organs that show them infrared images of heat emitted from the body of their prey.
They possess olfactive and thermic organs on their hairy antennae and legs which help them to fly towards their victim sensing warmth, sweat and carbon dioxide
Asian Tiger Mosquito Image
Mating season
These mosquitoes usually mate in early summer, sometimes in late autumn.
Reproduction
The adult male mosquitoes wait for a day after emerging, for their reproductive parts to develop fully. These male mosquitoes carry auditory receptors that help them to recognize the buzzing sound of the females. They try to synchronize the sound of their wings within few seconds to match with that of their potential mate. This is done by speeding up their wing beats. They mate in mid air often just in 15 seconds, when the males pass on the sperms to the females. Females mate only once and live longer than males who die within few days after mating.
Asian Tiger Mosquito Life Cycle
Life Cycle
The female Asian tiger mosquito lay their eggs in water. There are four stages of this mosquito- egg, larval, pupa and adult. The eggs measure 0.1 mm in length and are generally dark brown or black in color. The life cycle may take 14 days or less to complete based on the suitable environment. It can also take as long as 4-30 days if the weather is freezing. The larva goes into the pupa stage 5-10 days after hatching from the eggs. The larvae usually feed on fine organic matter in water and are known as filter feeders. The pupa is observed to be the shape of a comma and is dark brown in color. Two days after the pupa stage the adult mosquito takes birth.
Life Span
The lifespan of these blood-sucking mosquitoes vary from a week to as long as several months.
On an average, the male mosquitoes live 10-20 days. Whereas the females live 1-2 weeks in nature and in captivity they may survive from 3-100 days.
Predators
The mosquitoes are usually predated by birds, frogs, salamanders, fish, toads, bats and other insects.
Interesting Facts
Some of the interesting facts about this mosquito.
The name ‘Tiger mosquito’ comes from the white and black stripes pattern on their body.
These mosquitoes carry disease-causing germs in their saliva.
This mosquito is carrier of about 30 different types of disease causing viruses.
To develop the eggs, the females need protein from their blood meal.
One female can lay about 500 eggs in their entire lifetime.
The larvae of this mosquito can complete its birth cycle to an adult in only a tablespoon of water.
These mosquitoes are persistent biters and will bite 10 times or more to draw sufficient blood as its food.
These mosquitoes quickly increase in population, and are able to grow as many as 12 generations every year.
