Common House Mosquito

Culex pipiens

We learn about all sorts of creatures on Animal a Day. Sometimes they are majestic Leopards, sometimes they are beautiful Birds-of-Paradise.... and sometimes they are tiny little disease carriers that everyone hates.

I'm sure you've met Culex pipiens before; he is usually referred to as the Common House Mosquito. These tiny insects cane be found throughout the Northern Hemisphere, and are usually the most common Mosquitos in suburban and urban areas (yes, there are actually many different species of Mosquito).

I'm sure this is no surprise to you, but Common House Mosquitos feed on blood. Bird blood is their favorite drink, but humans and other mammals also appear on the menu. However, all those bites can be attributed to the females-- males actually do not feed on blood at all. They do not have biting mouth parts, and feed instead on plant nectar.

Common House Mosquitos have a short breeding cycle and can reproduce quickly and in very large numbers. A female can lay up to 350 eggs at once, depositing them in stagnant or polluted water. Those eggs hatch after only 2 days, and the larvae pupate and become adults after only a week or two.

Females at the end of the warm season have very important jobs to do, since the propagation of their species rests entirely on them. Normal Mosquitos only live about 2 weeks as adults, but late Summer females have to last for months! They mate and then build up fat reserves and find warm places to hang out (like basements). Their metabolism slows down considerably, and when spring rolls around they seek out food and then lay their eggs.

Their huge population caused by the fast breeding cycle makes Common House Mosquitos especially dangerous. They serve as vectors that transmit diseases from birds to mammals. Diseases like West Nile and SLE can easily get passed from bird to bird, and from bird to mammal, and eradicating these conditions is near impossible because of the sheer number of Mosquitos that carry the diseases with them. These diseases can be fatal to humans. Last year in the United States there were 712 cases of West Nile, and 43 deaths. Using Mosquito repellent and eliminating breeding locations is especially important during the summer months.

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IUCN Status : Not Listed
Location : Northern Hemisphere
Size : Body Length up to 7mm.

Classification : Phylum : Arthropoda -- Class : Insecta -- Order : Diptera
Family : Culicidae -- Genus : Culex-- Species : C. pipiens

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Stoneflies

There are over 3,500 species within the  Plecoptera order, and these insects are commonly referred to as Stoneflies. They can be found on every single continent except for Antarctica. They are poor fliers as adults, which means the individual species tend to remain in small, specific areas. This is one of the reasons why there are so many distinct species.

Chloroperlidae Enderlein

Stoneflies are awesome because they are a very primitive order. Fossils of their close relatives have been dated to the Carboniferous and Permian periods, and the order itself has been around since the Mesozoic. That is several hundred million years of history!

Another interesting fact is that a handful of Stonefly species, including the Lake Tahoe Benthic Stonefly, have the distinction of being some of the only insects to live their entire lives in the water.

All Stoneflies spend their larval stage in the water, and they are very picky about the kind of water they live in. It must be oxygen rich and pollutant free, which means that Stoneflies are a good indicator of water cleanliness and ecological degradation. Young Stoneflies may molt anywhere from 10 to 30 times, depending on the species. It can take 1-3 years for them to reach their full adult form.... but then tragically, like with many insects, their adult life is very brief. It lasts only 1-4 weeks.

The diet of a Stonefly is dependent on both the species and the instar period. (Instars are the many phases that the larvae go through while molting to reach the adult form) Some young flies eat plants or detritus. Some hunt. Some start with one diet and end up with another a few instars later. The adults of some species don't have any mouthparts at all, which means that are unable to eat, giving them shorter lifespans.

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Location : Worldwide except Antarctica
Size : Varies

Classification : Phylum : Arthropoda -- Class : Insecta -- Subclass : Pterygota
Superorder : Exopterygota -- Order : Plecoptera

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