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Toxorhynchites, also known as mosquito hawks or mosquito eaters, is a large cosmopolitan genus (nearly 100 species), and one of the few types of mosquito that does not suck blood. Rather, the adults subsist on nectar and other natural carbohydrates. Their larvae prey on the larvae of other mosquitoes.
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 "cannibalistic" mosquitoes are bigger in size than Aedes but they are harmless to humans.
Most species occur in forests. Vector or toxin control researchers have suggested the mosquitoes be introduced in areas where they do not naturally occur, such as urban zones, where they would be suitable agents to help fight dengue fever. In a scientific paper on Toxorhynchites, USM associate professor Dr Yap Han Heng wrote: “We believe we have a vegetarian which does no harm to any human being, and is at the same time a deadly foe to the young of other kinds of the genus (mosquitoes).”
Species
- Subgenus Afrorhynchus
- Subgenus Ankylorhynchus
- Subgenus Lynchiella
- Subgenus Toxorhynchites
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- T. acaudatus
- T. albipes
- T. amboinensis
- T. angustiplatus
- T. ater
- T. auranticauda
- T. aurifluus
- T. auripes
- T. barbipes
- T. bengalensis
- T. bickleyi
- T. brevipalpis
- T. camaronis
- T. capelai
- T. christophi
- T. coeruleus
- T. dundo
- T. edwardsi
- T. evansae
- T. funestus
- T. gigantulus
- T. gravelyi
- T. indicus
- T. inornatus
- T. kempi
- T. klossi
- T. leicesteri
- T. lewisi
- T. macaensis
- T. magnificus
- T. manicatus
- T. manopi
- T. metallicus
- T. minimus
- T. nepenthicola
- T. nepenthis
- T. nigripes
- T. okinawensis
- T. pendleburyi
- T. phytophagus
- T. quasiferox
- T. rajah
- T. ramalingami
- T. raris
- T. richenbachi
- T. rodhaini
- T. speciosus
- T. splendens
- T. sumatranus
- T. sunthorni
- T. towadensis
- Nomen dubium
External links
- Walter Reed Biosystematics Unit: Genus Toxorhynchites
- List of Toxorhynchites species
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 8 October 2008, at 20:59.
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