APPENDIX A
INTRODUCTION TO MOSQUITO IDENTIFICATION
A-1.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
a. Mosquitoes are small, fragiIe insects with long, slender legs, one a pair of
wings, and hind wings reduced to knoblike halters (figure A-1). They are distinguished
from midges, craneflies, and other flies by:
(1)
Mouthparts characterized by a long proboscis or beak.
(2)
Wings with at least some of the veins clothed with scales.
(3)
The presence of long, conspicuous antennae.
b. About 167 species of mosquitoes belonging to 13 genera have been
described from North America, north of Mexico. Many of these species are relatively
rare and of Iittle or no medical importance. Mosquitoes in the genera Toxorhvnchites,
Wyeomvia, Orthopodomyia, Deinocerites, and Haemogogus are usually uncommon,
and are marked in the following key with an asterisk (*) with the exception of
Haemogogus that is omitted altogether.
c. Female mosquitoes are the blood-feeders and the only sex of
medical/economic importance, thus the following key is designed primariIy for females.
To distinguish between the sexes see figure A-2):
(1). Males have antennae hairier (more plumose) than do the femaIes.
(2). Often, palpi of males are long, as long as the proboscis; whereas, in
most genera (except Anopheles), palpi of females are short, distinctly shorter than the
proboscis.
(3). Some mosquitoes have short palpi in both sexes, and distinguishing
between the sexes can be confusing for the beginner. The following key allows for this,
and it is possible to correctly determine females to genus. Certain characteristics apply
only to females and are so designated.
A-2. IDENTIFICATION
.
a. A pictorial key of the common genera of adult mosquitoes is presented in
figure A-3. Figure A-4 shows the yellow fever mosquito.
b. Some of the common structures used in identification of mosquito larvae
found in the U. S. is presented in figure A-5.
MD0170
A-1