| Toxorhynchites | |
|---|---|
| Toxorhynchites speciosus | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Diptera |
| Family: | Culicidae |
| Genus: | Toxorhynchites Theobald, 1901 |
| Species | |
|
See text. |
|
Toxorhynchites, also known as mosquito hawks or mosquito eaters, are a cosmopolitan genus. The genus includes the largest known species of mosquitoes, but in spite of their alarming appearance, they are among the few kinds of mosquito that do not suck blood. Rather, the adults subsist on whatever carbohydrate-rich materials might be available, such as honeydew, or saps and juices from damaged plants, refuse, and fruit, but probably mainly nectar.
The larvae of Toxorhynchites prey on the larvae of other mosquitoes and similar nektonic prey. In this respect they contrast with blood-sucking species of mosquitoes; Toxorhynchites larvae live on a protein- and fat-rich diet of aquatic animals such as mosquito larvae; they have no need to risk their lives sucking blood in adulthood, having already accumulated the necessary materials for oogenesis and vitellogenesis.
Female mosquitoes whose larvae, unlike those of Toxorhynchites, are detritus feeders could in principle subsist on nectar and the like, as their males in fact generally do. However, by relying on blood meals the females can produce eggs more plentifully than a diet of nectar would permit. Even though blood sucking is a risky strategy that entails more casualties, the risk is outweighed on average by the increase in the number and size of yolk-rich eggs that such protein-rich food permits.
The name "Toxorhynchites" 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.
The genus Toxorhynchites is divided into 4 subgenus and contains 92 species:[1]